The Last Candle In The Dark
by Astoria Potter
Summary: It's the day of Finnick's funeral, and as she stands there, Annie remembers the path that led them all here. Finnick/Annie.
1. Part I: A Sign & A Warning

Total Word Count: 4,878 so far

Chapter(s): 1/?

Spoilers: All through _Mockingjay_.

Quick Author's Note: I couldn't not write this after _Mockingjay_. How amazingly good and heartbreaking was it? / cries unashamedly over here / I'd like to think that Katniss attended Finnick's funeral, mainly because they bonded so much and how much she came to respect him as an ally and friend. And I know it didn't happen in the book, but for some reason, I kept on thinking that Finnick was laughing when he died, so that's why there's that in this story.

This story is told in alternate time sequences - I hope I'm not confusing anyone too much with them! If I am, feel free to drop me a note about it! I've indicated when is when, just to clarify. (:

This version is unbeta-ed because I wanted to get it up ASAP, so if there are any grammar or spelling errors, they're purely mine. Anyhow!

As usual, enjoy! And feedback is always welcome and lovely, of course. (:

Part I: A Sign & A Warning

_Present Day_

The sky is a bit dark overhead. They had predicted that today would be sunny, but it isn't. The clouds hide the few rays that could have spilled down on the solemn crowd that is gathered, and then they all turn as they watch the beautiful widow - it is a title that she should not have to bear, not at such a young age - move forward to the casket.

She is silent for a long while, says nothing. Her face is white as a sheet, and her eyes are rimmed red. Her lips tremble for a slight moment, and then they are still. Firm. Resolved. Her eyes squint up at the cloudy sky for a second, and then they wander over the crowd. All of those familiar faces in the crowd - none of them can comfort her.

On her right stands Johanna Mason, who had been such a huge anchor this whole time. The District 7 Victor laces their fingers together and gives her a tight squeeze. There. Johanna. If not for her... Well, she doesn't want to think about it. On her left stands Katniss Everdeen, whom they whisper has gone a bit insane. The Girl on Fire. No, the Girl Who _Was _on Fire. No longer a Girl on Fire anymore. This gathering today has been Katniss's first venture out since she went back to District 12. It seems like such ages ago, doesn't it? But then again, everything has. Time means nothing now. Time-

No. She won't think about it, not now. Everyone is assembled here today for him. To pay him tribute, to tell him goodbye before they put the empty casket put inside the memorial, before they cremate the remains of his body that were so hard to separate from the others that they had found down there.

And everyone being here - it does mean something, it does. It tells her and everyone who is watching how much he meant to them, to the Rebellion. They are not here for Finnick Odair, the sex symbol and living legend they thought him to originally be. That is not what they are here for, because they know the truth about that now - the real, horrifying truth that he chose to reveal. And for what? Oh, that's right. To protect her. He did it for her. He did everything for her.

They aren't here for the Finnick of Capitol rumors and whispers. No, they are here for the funeral of Finnick Odair, the District 4 Victor who gave up his life during the mission to kill Snow, the one who was deeply in love, who was too young to die, who was one of their best fighters, one of their best pairs of eyes and ears. A hero. A hero who was a fighter, who fought until the very end, who went out doing just that - fighting.

They wanted to bury him in the former Capitol, where they were in the process of building a monument for all of those who had died on the way to kill Snow. So many lives lost - it was an honor to be offered it. Some of the families of those other dead that had been on the mission had accepted the honor, but others, like Annie, had refused. She wanted Finnick to be brought home, to District 4. She didn't want him to be somewhere that had caused him so much pain and grief, and the truth was that she couldn't bear to travel to the Capitol to see his grave. That place held too many nightmares for both her and him, and if she could help it, she never wanted to set foot there ever again. But she knew that she would have to, and soon.

Annie stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, her voice loud and clear, her eyes shiny with unshed tears that she was holding back. Perhaps she had cried too much, had screamed and shrieked when she heard the news that now, her tears were all depleted in her torrent of grief. "The first time I met Finnick, I was nine years old. I was walking back home when he bumped into me on the street..."

_Distant Past_

"Do you really have to go this year?" Annie frowned as they lay on the small boat. It was just another cool, lazy day on the lake, and they were letting the water take them where it wanted to.

"I think so," Finnick replied as he turned to her. "Why?" he asked. "Does it bug you?"

"Nothing, I just - don't you ever get tired of it?" she inquired in a careful voice.

He let out a sigh. "Even if I didn't want to go, Snow called me and asked me if I'd like to meet up with him for an important discussion."

"I think the words you're looking for here are 'asked' and 'like to'," Annie pointed out. "You do have a choice, you know."

"Since when has a request from the Capitol ever been one you're allowed to turn down?" Finnick asked.

She frowned at that. "Then they're basically forcing you to go, aren't they?"

That was true. But it wasn't safe to talk like that, even here in their lake. Maybe even especially so here. If she kept on going on speaking like this, she would no doubt be dragged away to the Capitol, and then what? Turned into an Avox? Tortured and beaten to death? No, he wouldn't allow that. He never would. So Finnick dipped his right hand out of the boat and then brought it back up.

Before Annie had a chance to react or speak, he flicked the small amount of water into her face. She let out a shriek of delight and then began to laugh. "Finnick!"

He smiled before he sat up, staring down at her. She really was beautiful, he thought. Those sea green eyes that were often compared to his, the beautiful hair that was a variety of browns, the way that she smiled at him so that his heart ached or felt like it was expanding - everything about her was just so alive. So vibrant. So full of life. So very Annie. Not that he'd ever tell her these things. Once, he'd started to, and she'd thought that he was joking. It was a sting to him, and he hadn't brought it up ever since. It wasn't her fault she couldn't take him seriously, none but his own. He was the one who constantly flirted in the hallways with admirers and let women at the photoshoots prattle on about how amazing he was before they tried to tempt him. So he could understand how his expression of affection for her would be read on her part as a joke.

"Finnick?" Annie asked, bringing him back to reality. There was an intense look in his eyes as he stared at her, and it scared her a little bit, made her heart flutter ridiculously in her chest.

"Annie," he said as he hovered over her, their faces almost touching.

"What are you doing?" she rose her eyebrows. Wait, since when did her voice get so breathless and her breath quicken? And why did she get the feeling that her cheeks were red and she was flushing all over?

A mischievous grin spread across his face. "Nothing," he said before he scooped her up and proceeded to jump out of the boat with her.

They splashed into the lake, the water soaking their clothes immediately. "Finnick!" she was laughing again, their topic of conversation now forgotten.

His hands were on her shoulders, and he was still smiling. "Want to go for a swim?"

Annie shrugged, and then watched as he proceeded to throw his t-shirt onto the boat. She took a moment to admire the muscles of his abdomen, and when she reverted her gaze back up, he was staring intently at her. "What?"

"See something you like?" he winked at her.

"Oh, you wish," she said in a deadpan voice. "However, I'm sorry to tell you that your chest is scrawny."

Finnick let out a sound between a snort of disbelief and an amused laugh. "Scrawny?"

She nodded. "Too bad."

"Oh, I'm going to get you," Finnick said.

"Come and try," Annie sing-songed before she plunged herself underwater and swam off.

Annie loved being in the water. It was peaceful here, quiet. Even when she was working on a boat in the ocean, the crash of the angry waves never bothered her. It was because they'd grown up in District 4, of course. Water was like a second home to them, their natural element. She could see so clearly here - the rocks and sand that littered the bottom, the kelp-like plants that grew and seemed to be dancing. She did a somersault, and that was when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her back up, above the water.

"I got you!" Finnick was laughing.

She coughed a mouthful of water out. "Finnick!" she protested.

"What?" he shot her an innocent look. "You're the one who told me to come and get you."

"That I did," she smiled.

"So?" he raised his eyebrows as he spread out his arms, giving her an excellent view of his body. "Am I still scrawny?"

It was the furthest thing from scrawny - not that she'd ever tell him that. A grin spread across her face. "Yes."

"Yes?" his eyes shot up even further before he edged closer to her, his voice teasing. "Did you say yes?"

"Yup," she nodded, still smiling.

"Well then," he sing-songed. "I suppose I'll have to convince you, won't I?"

"Really?" Annie laughed. "And how are you going to do that, Mr. Odair?"

"By doing this," he murmured, his voice no longer playful and teasing. It was soft and serious instead, and very, very intense. When had he gotten so close to her? Before Annie even got a grip on what was happening, his lips met hers, and she was still for a moment, frozen, quite unable to believe that this was really happening. Even with the water of the lake splashed all over him, she could smell him - that smell that was so distinctively Finnick, that was there even when he woke up in the morning or during any given time of the day. Then she was kissing him back, yielding, her arms finding their way to the nape of his neck as he ran his hands down her back and rested them ever so lightly on her waist. He tasted like chocolate and strawberries and mint, and his lips were so soft on hers.

This was something that Annie never thought that she'd be doing, ever. Okay, so maybe she'd thought about it every now and then. But she'd never thought it would become a reality. He was just such a flirt with those other girls, and even though he never actually went out with them or did anything with most of them (well, that's what he'd said, anyway, but she knew for a fact that he'd slept with at least two), she didn't want to delude herself into thinking that she was something special to him. Delusions. Reality. That seemed to snap some sense into her, and she pulled back. The reality of the situation was that he didn't have these types of feelings for her. Why would he, and so suddenly, too?

Finnick was looking at her with that intense gaze she'd seen earlier. He said nothing as they treaded above the surface of the water, his fingers going to his swollen lips as he touched them, feeling.

"How dare you," she got out.

His fingers stopped moving, and he blinked slowly. "What?"

"Don't pull that on me," Annie shook her head. "Don't kiss me when it means nothing to you. Just don't."

"Annie," he murmured as he reached his hands out and dipped them underwater before he found her wrists and entrapped them with his fingers. "Annie, listen to me."

"If this is some way to distract me so that I won't ask you questions or so that you can-"

"Annie," he said in a quiet voice.

She went on, apparently not hearing him or choosing to ignore him. "... have another thing coming, Finnick Odair. It might mean nothing to you, but I-"

"Annie!" he practically shouted out her name. When she finally did stop and look at him, he murmured, "But it did mean something. It means something that might mean everything."

She didn't want to hope about this, didn't dare to. "What?" She managed to get out stupidly.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" Finnick let out a breath, his fingers making smooth circles on her wrists.

Now she really was being delusional. Obviously, this was some sort of dream and she'd be waking up very soon. "What?" was all she could say. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she say anything else? Why was she being such an idiot, especially in a dream?

"It's not a dream," he shook his head. "It's real."

"Shoot," she murmured, her eyes widening. "Did I say that out loud?"

Finnick let out a laugh, but it quickly disappeared. "Yes." She said nothing in response, simply stared at him, muted by her disbelief. This wasn't really happening. Could it be? How was this even possible? He could read the expression in her eyes, and then he leaned forward once again. "I'll show you," he said in a soft voice, and then his lips met hers once more.

_A Little While Ago_

One by one, those who knew him well came up and gave their eulogies.

Johanna, with tears rolling down her cheeks, spoke of how brave Finnick was, what a good friend he'd been, how to some people he'd never seemed serious but those who got to know him came to realize very quickly that he cared deeply for the people he loved and would do anything to protect them.

Haymitch said that Finnick had been a soldier through and through, and how he was proud to have known him.

Beetee's voice was strong when he went up, not his usual shaky and trembling tone. He said that even though Finnick had been through so much in his life, he had held on, and even when it seemed like he was so broken and lost - which he had been - he still managed to find his way back.

Plutarch talked about the Rebellion, and how Finnick had helped them all. They were eternally grateful and would be forever marked by this loss. What were they going to do without the wit and laughter that came from Finnick?

Gale said that he'd never fought by someone as enigmatic and that he would never forget how Finnick had given himself up in order to save them.

And so it went on. How he was a good man, what a waste it was, how he could always make someone crack a smile or even laugh when they were down, his energy in battle, how he loved fiercely and fought just as hard. How this was too soon, how he shouldn't have been snatched away from the world like this.

And finally, Katniss was up. She spoke of how Finnick was hard to read. How she had no idea of his true intentions in the beginning, of who he really was when they first met. She spoke of how she'd come to trust him with her life, of how she'd realized all of the misconceptions she'd had about him. She spoke of how Finnick had risked everything, of how she would never forget him, that he was able to make her smile when she thought she no longer could. How she couldn't really believe that he was gone - it just didn't register with her. It was too hard to accept, too painful.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

"He went out fighting," Katniss reached out and tentatively placed her hands in Annie's. "You know Finnick. He-"

"Was it painless?" Annie asked in a soft voice.

Katniss was never one for lies, and especially not now, not when she knew that Annie would know whether she was lying or not. "No," she whispered, her voice barely a whisper as she lowered her head. "No, he didn't die like that."

"That's what I thought," Annie said in a muted voice, but she didn't close her eyes and let herself sink into despair. She simply stared at the girl before her, a girl who was barely a woman but had been forced to grow up so quickly, like so many of them had. "How did it happen?"

Katniss hesitated, but from the look on Annie's face, she could do nothing but continue. She was supposed to be comforting the grieving widow, but now - now she was saying things that she shouldn't be, telling the whole sordid truth about it all. "We were running from the mutts." She couldn't raise her voice from a whisper. "Peeta and Cressida were up, and then I heard Finnick yelling, and I realized we'd left- that we'd left-" She stopped for a moment, her voice full of anguish and guilt.

Annie was surprisingly calm. "And then what, Katniss?" she asked, squeezing the girl's hands, willing her to go on.

"And Gale was telling me no one was coming out, and I just couldn't - I couldn't not look. So I shined the flashlight down and then I saw-" Another stop.

Annie didn't say anything. She bit her lip instead, bracing herself, squeezing her eyes shut briefly. When she opened them, Katniss still said nothing.

There was silence for a few minutes before Katniss went on, her voice getting lower and lower with each passing word. "I shined the flashlight down. There were three of them. The worst mutts I've ever seen. They were half-lizards and half-human - the same ones who decapitated Castor and Homes and a whole bunch of Peacekeepers." At the word _decapitated_, Annie winced. Katniss felt incredibly idiotic then. Annie's District partner during her Games had died via decapitation, and now, to hear that the love of her life had died the same way? It was chilling, wasn't it? "I'm sorry," Katniss blurted out. "I didn't-"

"I have to know," was all Annie said in reply.

"They had him at the shaft," Katniss whispered. "They held him and he struggled. His head was - his head - they - one of them pulled it back, and then-"

"But it was quick?" Annie asked, needing to know. "Was it quick, Katniss?"

"Yes," Katniss whispered, and that was the truth, and Annie knew by the look on her face that it was. "I saw his life, you know."

"His life?" Annie sounded puzzled, and there was a perplexed look on her face.

"I don't know how to explain it," Katniss said. "There was a boat. Then the parachute with the trident in the arena. And Mags. The sky was pink. And then the trident Beetee made for him. You were in your wedding dress. Ocean waves crashed over the rocks. That's what I saw, and then it was over, and he was dead, so I activated the Holo and-"

"That's why all that's left of him and the others are just parts," Annie whispered.

"Yes," Katniss nodded, and then tears began to slide down her cheeks. "Yes."

They hugged each other in their grief, held on, the tears running down their faces as they clung to each other and cried for who they had both lost.

_Distant Past_

"You wanted to see me?" Finnick asked.

"I did," Snow nodded, not moving from his seat.

"What is it?" Finnick inquired in a careful voice.

"I have a proposition for you," the President smiled, and he went on to explain. How this happened to a lot of the Victors, and Finnick should feel lucky. In fact, Finnick appeared to be the most popular one, and he was in high demand. It was all very simple. Snow sold their bodies to the highest bidders in the Capitol or to those he thought had done him favors. As if to make it all better, the President went on to say that all of them gave gifts and/or money in return.

"No," Finnick shook his head as he tried to keep his voice calm. "I won't do it."

"Really?" Snow asked.

"You're telling me you want me to be some kind of sex slave, and you expect me to be okay with that?" His voice had risen an octave or two. "How could anyone be okay with that?"

The President had a strange smile on his face. "Very well, then. You're dismissed."

"Just like that?" Finnick rose his eyebrows in disbelief.

"I do hope that you chose wisely, young Finnick," the President said, his tone ominous.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finnick demanded. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing," Snow laughed as he gave an airy wave of his hand. "I believe you were dismissed, Mr. Odair."

Finnick spun around on his heel and backed out of the study, making his way back to the party slowly, looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one had come after him.

"Finnick!" Plutarch Heavensbee boomed, a smile on his face as he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "How are you liking your stay this year?"

"I'm fine," Finnick attempted to return the smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

The rest of the night seemed to pass by in a blur - the hand-shaking and talking, the leering of married women twice his age, the winks given by those who looked younger then those other women as they tried to touch him. He retired early, not even looking around for Mags. Had she known that this would happen all along? Is this what the President in her day had forced her to do after she'd won? No, that was absurd. It was all Snow's doing, this Finnick was sure of. It was a secret well-hidden, but if it had been going on since Mags's days, then surely it would have gotten out.

As he dragged himself out of the car, stumbled through the elevator, and finally went into his suite, he panicked as his thoughts raced. He didn't even bother to turn on the light as he fumbled around in the dark for the phone, calling the number, desperate for the other line to pick up. He lay down on the floor, and on the fifth ring, a familiar voice spoke. "Hello?" Annie asked.

Her voice brought him back to reality. But he didn't answer, simply breathed. What the hell was he doing? Why was he calling her? The President would know what he was doing, wouldn't he? This set his mind in a state of frenzy. Shoot, shoot, shoot. If the President thought that Finnick was telling Annie anything at all, there was no doubt that he'd have Annie harmed, possibly murdered. Dammit, what was he doing? He had to hang up now.

"Hello?" He could hear the frown in Annie's voice. "Finnick, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," he said quickly at the same time a voice in his mind screamed _"You complete idiot!"_ What on earth was he doing right now? Was he out of his right mind? He had to stop talking to her, right now. Right now right now right-

He could hear the smile in her voice over the phone. "Hey, you," she laughed. "I miss you."

He didn't say anything. He had to hang up, now. Hang up, hang up, hang up. He quickly pressed the 'end' button, relief coursing through him as he did so. There.

The phone rang almost immediately. He knew who was calling, but he refused to pick up, couldn't do it. He'd almost jeopardized her just now, and he wasn't going to be stupid enough to actually press the little green button and listen to her voice and have her try to get the truth out of him. No.

He fell asleep like that, his eyes fluttering shut as he told himself that this was all for the best, turning the ringer off of the phone so that he wouldn't have to listen to it all night.

The next morning, when he woke up, his face pressed against the cool carpet, he saw that Annie had left him several voice messages.

"Hey, Finnick. It's me. You sounded a bit weird just now. Are you okay? Call me as soon as you get this."_ Beep._

"Why aren't you picking up? You can talk to me, you know."_ Beep._

"Finnick, come on. I'm not going to bite you or anything." _Beep._

"Did you put the ringer on silent?"_ Beep._

"Finnick, just tell me what's wrong." _Beep._

"I'm not going to tell anyone. You can tell me and I promise I'll keep it a secret, I swear." _Beep._

"Finnick." This was not Annie's angry, concerned voice that had flooded through the other voicemails. This voice was one that was full of fear and shock and sadness. "Finnick, you need to call me as soon as you get this. Something's happened." _Beep._

"End of messages," the automatic phone voice said. "To repeat your messages, press '1' now. To delete your messages, press '2'. To save your messages in the archive, press '3'. To forward your messages, press '4'. To-"

Damn it, damn it, damn it. What had he done? Had someone hurt her? Why was he such an idiot? Why had he called her? His fingers were a blur as he quickly pressed the buttons on the phone, but there was no answer. It kept on ringing and ringing and ringing. Finally, he called his own house, and on the eighth ring, someone picked up. "Hello?" Annie whispered. "Who is this?"

"Annie? What's going on?" Finnick demanded as he sat up. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" He stood up quickly, then he repeated. "What's going on?"

"It wasn't me, Finnick," she continued to whisper, and he could tell from her voice that she'd been crying, something that she rarely ever did. "It wasn't me."

"What?" he frowned, not understanding her. "Annie, what is going on?" She was silent. "Hello? Annie?"

"Is Mags with you?" she asked suddenly.

"They tried to get Mags?" his voice was incredulous.

"No," she whispered. "Finnick, go get Mags and then come back."

The door to his suite suddenly swung open, and Mags came striding in, hobbling along on her cane, a worried expression on her face. "Finnick?" she asked.

"Is that Mags?" Annie asked over the phone.

"Yeah," Finnick said. "Look, just tell me what's wrong."

"Who's on the phone?" Mags asked as she reached him and took his hand in hers, guiding him towards the couch.

"Annie," Finnick mouthed at her before a frown appeared on his face as his voice went back to its normal pitch. "Why are you taking me to the couch?"

"Sit down," Mags commanded, and in such an authoritative voice, too, that he did. Mags very rarely used this type of tone on him, and when she did, it was always because something important was going on and she wanted him to listen to her.

"Finnick?" Annie sounded a bit scared.

"I'm still here," he said softly, trying to reassure her, but a gnawing feeling was growing inside of him, one that told him something was terribly wrong.

"It's your family," her voice was quieter than he'd ever heard it.

"What about them?" he demanded, even though the puzzle pieces were fitting together in his mind now. No. No, no, no, no. No.

"They're dead," she whispered.

Finnick wasn't aware of letting the phone slip from his fingers as it crashed onto the carpeted floor. He wasn't aware of rocking back and forth on the couch before he collapsed to his knees and began to shout and yell as he clawed at the floor. He wasn't aware of Mags wrapping her arms around his shoulders, of Annie on the phone, still listening, listening to him sob and grieve, listening as the tears streamed down her face.


	2. Part II: A Shadow Passes Over Us

Super Quick A/N: Wowwwww. Thank you so much for all of your feedback, everyone! / beams / They made my day, and just: *hugglesquishiesyouall*! Thank you so much! (I hope I don't sound too hyper) Thank you so much for taking the time to pen out a review, it really does mean a lot to me!

So, to windyday, SQUISHPIE, Blue, redshade, RiverOtter1, onetraveller, Elle, xMoonlessx, and PeachyBookLover: thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are pretty awesome, you know that, right?

Now, on to the next chappie. (: Feedback would be, as usual, very lovely and appreciated. (:

Part II: A Shadow Passes Over Us

_Distant Past_

Finnick strode angrily down the hallway and pushed the door to the study open, interrupting a heated discussion between Snow and a Peacekeeper. "We need to talk," he spat out, not caring if they'd finished their conversation or not. He was angry and hurt and grieving - his parents and siblings and aunt had been killed. Gunned down. The official report was that it was a robber, but no one believed that story for a second. Not anyone who knew the truth, anyway. What kind of robber was able to get past the security of the Victor's Village in District 4? No, this was the work of those Peacekeepers who worked for Snow. It was Snow's fault, and it was Finnick's fault, too. His fault because he'd refused to let himself be prostituted out, and now, this was the retaliation.

"Ah, young Finnick Odair," the President smiled. "So nice to see you."

"We need to talk," Finnick repeated, his teeth clenched. "Get your little friend out of here."

The Peacekeeper looked insulted. "Excuse me, I-"

"Leave us," Snow waved his hand, clearly indicating dismissal.

The Peacekeeper gave a curt nod and quickly exited the study, the door closing behind him with an eerie sort of finality.

"So," Snow smiled. "I take it you've reconsidered my offer?"

"Your _offer_?" Finnick practically spit out the last word, as though it was poison in his mouth. "You killed my family because I refused!"

"Oh, that," the President said in a bored tone. "You got off easy, young Finnick. Only five people died last night."

"Those four people were my parents and my little brother and sister and my aunt!" Finnick roared, unable to contain his anger. "And you had them murdered!"

"Such terrible words you use," Snow sighed. "I'd like to say that we simply disposed of them. Got rid of waste."

"They are _not_ waste," Finnick snarled. "How could you-"

"Because you'll come to see, Finnick, that I can." Snow smiled. "I always get what I want."

"Well, you're not going to get _me_," Finnick snapped, turning on his heel to leave.

"Tell me, how is Annie Cresta doing?" Snow asked.

The mention of that name made Finnick stop in his tracks. "What?"

"Or dear old Mags. You know, I haven't seen her in a while."

Finnick strode towards the desk and he leaned forward. "Don't you dare touch them," he said in a low, dangerous voice.

"Oh, I will," the President laughed. "And they'll die, just like your family did. And not nearly so nicely or neatly, either. No, I think we'll have something long and drawn-out for them. A little bit of torture is always nice. How does that sound?" Snow paused, letting the silence weigh heavy with his words. "Now, did you say something about reconsidering my deal?"

Finnick was silent for a long time, and when he finally spoke, his face was shuttered, his tone flat and devoid of any emotion. "What do you want me to do?"

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

She remembered when the broadcast came on. She was in the middle of a conversation with Johanna Mason, trying to coax the other woman out of her fear for water. The TV in front of them flickered on, and it was a Capitol reporter, saying that everyone in squad 451 was dead. They watched Boggs on the floor, his feet blown off. Then there was panic in the group, the black gel that was everywhere, and then the chaos. Gale Hawthorne, trying to help Mitchell. The announcer narrated, and they both stared, quite unable to stop. Everyone is dead, they said. Dead, dead, dead.

"Annie?" Johanna asked in a soft voice, placing a caressing hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Annie?"

"It's not true," she whispered.

"Annie," Johanna murmured in a sad, knowing voice. "I know you want to-"

"It's not true!" she shouted, her voice louder now. "It's not true, because I'd know - I'd know if Finnick was - if he was-" Annie struggled with her words. "If he died."

"Annie, we just watched it," Johanna's voice was full of incredulity. "I don't want to believe it, either, but I-"

"Have you ever loved someone?" Annie was grasping Johanna's hands now, holding onto them so hard that her fingers bruised Johanna. "Have you ever known what it's like to ache for someone so badly? Knowing that they're forbidden, but wanting them nonetheless?"

"What are you getting at?" Johanna asked in a quiet tone.

Annie's grip tightened as she went on. "I was never supposed to have him. He wasn't supposed to love me."

"Annie," Johanna murmured. Look at the irony of the fact that just a minute ago, their positions had been reversed. Annie had been the one trying to coax Johanna out of her phobia, and now Johanna was the one trying to comfort Annie.

"But he did," Annie whispered. "He did, and I-" she broke off suddenly.

"You what?" Johanna asked.

"I'd know if he was dead," Annie's green eyes peered at her. "I'd know. And he's not dead. He's not!" Her voice had risen an octave or two.

And it was true. Whenever something terrible had happened concerning Finnick, she had known. Known because there was a strange, gnawing feeling in her heart that made it hurt and ache, and then she soon became unexplainably sad, sometimes even crying. Finnick had often told her that he'd felt this as well (at least that's what he said after she'd told him this. But she believed him).

Right now, there was no terrible wrenching in her heart, no aching feeling, no tears. It was stupid, she knew, to rely on this feeling that she knew she sometimes had, but what else did she have? If she accepted that Finnick had died, then that would mean losing all hope. Hope that they had only had for such a brief period of time, hope that she never thought that they'd be having. To be able to freely bask in their love, with everyone so genuinely happy and elated for them - it was a beautiful feeling, knowing that you were in love and that you were loved back, that you were a half that matched another.

So yes, she was going to trust her heart and her instincts. Finnick wasn't dead. Some of them had died, this she knew, but not him. She would know it when it happened, would she not?

And that she did. That would be when it all began once more, the anguish and the grief and the crying that tore at her.

But not now. No, right now, she held on to her hope, held on tightly, because it was her anchor in this world. Finnick would come back to her. Finnick, who had done all that he could for her, because he loved her. To have someone like him love her - it wasn't something that happened everyday. People got married and had kids and grew old together, but their love - theirs was a love that was special, that was complicated and messy and tragic, but now that all of that was over, she was happy. A sea full of happiness, a never-ending daze that she basked herself in.

Yes, Annie Cresta hoped, because she knew that she would know when it happened, and it wasn't now. She just would.

_Distant Past_

It's not like he's never had sex before. He has. It's just that this - this is a violation of who he is, a violation of not only his body but of himself. He might be willing, but he is only doing it because of blackmail - because he knows all too well that Annie and Mags will die if he dares to do otherwise.

The woman - some Capitol idiot whose name he doesn't remember and that he could care less about - climbs on top of him, kissing his face and working her way down his body. He does nothing. Is motionless. Maybe if they hear that the sex with him is boring and unresponsive, the other ones in line won't be interested.

But that's the problem, isn't it? There's always, always someone who is interested, who stands in line and waits very patiently for their turn.

The woman is removing his clothes now. He doesn't bother to help her. He is nothing but still, immobile. Almost as if he is dead - because he is. Dead, that is. He feels empty and hollow inside, because how could he not? There is nothing for him here, nothing but the disgusting violation of who he is and the fact that by allowing this to happen, he is protecting Annie and Mags. The last two people in the world that he loves. They are all that he has left, and he can't lose them, he just can't.

And so it goes, on and on and on. There are three more women after the first one, and he is unresponsive to all of them, acts as though he is dead. Feels nothing but emptiness inside. Thinks about how he should never have come here this year. Thinks about Annie and Mags.

Annie. She is going to hear of this, but not the whole truth, and then what will she think? She finally knows now how he feels about her, and his hope that she felt the same way had been confirmed before he left, and now... Now, that hope would go flying out of the window. There was no way that he could tell her without endangering her and making her a fast and easy target.

Maybe someday, he'll be able to explain to her. Just explain and let it be known. But for now, he can't say a word about it, not if he wants to keep her safe.

_A Little While Ago_

Peeta was an eloquent speaker. He took the mantle after Katniss spoke, and when he opened his mouth and talked about Finnick, several people who were already crying began to burst into even more tears. He spoke about how Finnick had saved his life, several times. How Finnick had revived him, took the strike of a weapon for him, had protected him in the Arena. He went on about what an enigmatic character Finnick was. How there was humor and wit in his person, but underneath that was a young man who protected those that he loved and had sacrificed himself and his being time and time again in order to protect those people. Finnick was a bright burst of life, he said. Finnick had an amazing amount of courage, could go on even when others could not. Finnick loved more fiercely than he did anything else, and no one would ever forget that. How was it possible that he was gone? Any minute now, Peeta said, he half-expected Finnick to magically pop out of the casket and joke with them all.

But he wasn't going to. He was dead, and he wasn't coming back.

But Finnick wouldn't be forgotten. He never would be. He and all of those who had died in squad 451 - they would be forever immortalized now. Everyone knew this. The memorials and monuments were being built, the children and the generations to come would learn about it in their textbooks and at school, and already the young man who had been a living legend when he was alive had his name spoken on every pair of lips (and mouthed by the Avoxes, of course).

Annie wept as she listened, felt her heart tearing. For a moment, she didn't know how she would go on, but then she did. For Finnick, she would. For herself, she would. For them, she would. For who they were. Finnick would want her to be strong, and she was going to be strong for him. What kind of wife would she be if she didn't speak at his funeral, didn't give a eulogy?

The best was always saved for last, they said. And so it was.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

They keep her in a cell with several others. She knew that she was, in this sense, lucky. The other day, she'd passed by a row of cells that held only one prisoner each - the cells with Peeta and Johanna - and she had realized right then and there just how fortunate she really was. They were busy torturing them for information, and the screams of pain and the cries of agony and the desperate shouts - they had all been so horrible and so terribly loud, but to know now that she wasn't being forced to undergo any of it gave her a guilty sense of relief. She hated listening to the sound of the torturing - she buried her head in her knees and drove her fingers into her ears to block out the noises that went on for hours and hours around the clock.

To pass the time, she thought of Finnick. Happy thoughts. She thought of the way that he laughed, the skilled movements of his fingers, the pressure of his lips against hers, the way that his body felt imprinted on hers. She thought of the songs that he had sung to sing her to sleep, the way that he smiled at her, those looks that he gave her. She thought of the nights that they had lain down on the beach and fallen asleep as they made observations about the night sky, the blanket beneath them doing its best to separate them from the sand. Anything that she could think of, she replayed in her mind.

She was in good shape, compared to most of the others. The Capitol knew that Annie had no knowledge of most Uprising secrets - Finnick would never have been that stupid, to jeopardize her by telling her anything about that. So for the most part, they leave her alone. Of course, the Peacekeepers do occasionally pick on her. Slapping, hitting, pushing, taunting, threatening - but she's okay. They know that the worse thing for her to have to go through is to hear the never-ending stream of screams coming from those being tortured. So sometimes, they go to the cell and tie her hands so that she can't cover her ears, so that she's forced to listen. Sometimes, if they're really bored or pissed off, they take her out of the cell and drag her until she's a few feet away, make her watch as someone is tortured, as they scream and beg for death. That is the real pain for her, and they know it.

But she's okay. She's okay. So long as she tells herself she's okay, she's alright. She'll be alright. All she has to do when these things happen is distract herself. In her mind, she thinks. _A is for Avox, B is for Beetee, C is for conspiracy, D is for death, E is for electric shock, F is for Finnick, G is for gun, H is for Haymitch, I is for incinerator, J is for jugular, K is for kill, L is for lust, M is for murder - _why was she thinking of such depressing things? No, think happy thoughts, but not about Finnick, because those will only be ruined by what is going on before you. Okay. Deep breath. _A is for apple, b is for banana, C is for cherry, D is for dewberry, E is for elderberry, F is for feijoa, G is for grape, H is for honeydew, I is for ilama, J is for jujube, K is for kiwi, L is for lemon, M is for mango, N is for nectarine, O is for orange, P is for papaya, Q is for quince, R is for rhubarb, S is for starwberry, T is for tamarillo, U is for ugli fruit, V is for -_ She stops. Why was she thinking about fruit? She shouldn't be thinking about fruit, it would only make her hungry, and all of them were only fed one measly meal a day that barely kept them alive. She was no stranger to hunger, literal and figurative. Literal, because she had been through the Hunger Games. And figuratively, she knew what it was like to want someone so badly, to thirst for them and have your love for them consume you. Finnick again? Stop thinking about him right now. Not during torture, Annie. Okay. Start again. Think. What alphabet game do you play this time?

She is stumped for a few moments, but then she begins soon enough again, anyway. This time, she thinks about names from the Old World that she used to read about with Finnick. _A is for Augustus, B is for Boagrius, C is for Castor... _

_Distant Past_

Annie heard the rumors, and she buried her face in her hands. It had been too much to hope for, hadn't it? That Finnick felt the same way for her that she had for him all these years. His words hadn't meant anything.

After he'd kissed her again in the lake, she'd swam off as quickly as possible, but who should follow her but Finnick? He had spoken in that intense voice of his how this was very real. No, he wasn't on morphling. No, he wasn't drunk. He'd felt this way about her sometime around the point he'd gone to the Hunger Games. During the Arena, he'd said. It was like she'd crept on him, and he couldn't believe he hadn't recognized it all along. That's when he'd realized that she meant so much to him.

He'd said that when he came back from the Capitol this year, they'd be able to be together. He was so happy when he told her this, had been so ecstatic and smiling so widely and his voice was so full of love, pure love.

And now?

Well, she did take into account the fact that his entire family had been murdered. She had no doubt as to who had ordered the killings, no doubt whatsoever that it was the Capitol. If it was really a robbery, how come nothing was taken from the house? Not that anyone but Annie knew this, of course. The official report had listed a bunch of items as 'missing', but these were possessions that Annie was certain Finnick's family hadn't had.

But why? Why kill his family? It wasn't as if Finnick had rebelled against the Capitol or said anything against them. So why do it? As an act of cruelty? For spite? What reason could they possibly have to do this?

Maybe that was why he sought to bury himself inside the women of the Capitol. Maybe they took away the pain, the loss of his family, even if it was only ever so briefly. And if he chose to do that, then who was she to blame him? Death brought clarity, and maybe he'd realized that he wanted nothing to do with Annie. After all, she _had _been the bearer of the bad message. But what else could she have done? She hadn't wanted him to hear it from anyone either than Mags or herself, to have people give him condolences and have him find out that way. No, that was cruel, and she could never do that to him.

Okay, so maybe Finnick didn't want to associate with her because she'd told him what had happened and maybe he'd finally realized that he could do a lot better than her if he wanted to. But it hurt, it did. It hurt, knowing that he didn't call her and laugh with her over the phone, that he was, in actuality off with some Capitol women. What was happening to her? She was turning into the type of girl that she hated - the one who got all emotional and strung-up over a boy. The girl who constantly thought about said boy and could think of nothing else.

Annie wished that he would call her, just once. Even if it was to tell her that he was done with her, that what he had said and done at the lake was a mistake - she just wanted to hear the sound of his voice, to have him clarify it for her. She would rather be told now that she was clearly someone that he couldn't be with, not left here to wait and be told later or never told at all. Better that she know now so that she could do her best to get over it as quickly as possible than to be left to wonder and dread the moment when it finally came.

So she sat here in Finnick's house and she waited on the couch, doing her homework and constantly darting her eyes toward the phone that never rang. She'd checked at Mags's house as well, but that phone bore no messages, had no missed calls.

All that was left for her to do was wait. Wait, and then let Finnick let go of her, let him turn her away.

_Present Day_

"It was while I was on my way home. I was late to work, and you could tell he was on his way to the ocean. Then he opened his mouth and said..."

_A Very Distant Past_

"I'm so sorry!" the boy exclaimed as he held his hand to help her out. Her eyes took him in. He was much taller than her, and he looked strangely familiar. Blonde curls, sea green eyes - she knew that she'd seen them somewhere before. But where, exactly?

"No, thanks," Annie shook her head as she hauled herself up from the ground.

"At least let me walk you to where you want to go." He fell into step beside her as she walked away from him.

"Look, I don't need help," she informed him.

But he persisted anyway. "Where are you headed? Are you going to go to training? Are you headed to school? Are you-"

She rose her eyebrows at him. "Are you trying to be funny or are you just completely idiotic?"

He blinked at her. "What?"

"There's no school today. It's the weekend," she pointed out.

"Right," he nodded. "So then where are you headed? To go train for-"

Annie stopped walking, and he halted as well. "Will you go away if I tell you?"

"Maybe," he smiled.

"Is that a yes or a no?" she asked.

"It's one or the other," he shrugged.

"I'm going to the ocean," she replied before she spun on her heel and continued her way down the street. "Now go away."

"Not happening," he said as he kept his pace with hers.

"Are you always this annoying?" Annie rolled her eyes.

The boy laughed. "Why, do you want to find out?"

"No, thank you," she said.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Everyone tells me that I'm a-"

"Can you please stop following me?" she snapped irritably. She was already late to work, and it wasn't going to help that this prancing idiot had just knocked her over and was now trying to annoy her (he was succeeding at it, too). She was currently her family's only source of income, and she didn't want to be the reason that they had no meal to eat if her pay was docked. "Don't you have better things to do?"

"Just to let you know, this isn't the way to the ocean," Finnick said in a polite voice. "Unless it's some kind of shortcut you're using?" he questioned.

"Look," she crossed her arms. "I'm late to work and I forgot my stuff at home, and you're not helping by being some sort of stalkerish idiot who's following me around and asking me five million questions."

He let out a laugh before his face became serious. "I'm sorry," he said in a soft voice. "I didn't mean to-"

"You are so-"

"I know a few shortcuts," he blurted out.

She didn't stop walking, although she did slow down her pace a little bit. "What?"

"Look, where do you live?" he asked.

"Why is that important?" she snapped.

"If I know what street you live on, I know which shortcut we can go to."

"I'm not going to tell you where I live!" she practically shouted. "I barely even know you!"

"Look, I'm not some creep," he said in a serious voice that (as far as Annie could tell, anyway) was genuine. "Do you want to get to work on-time or not?"

She considered it for a quick moment. There was almost no time left. She knew that if she went back to the house now and went her usual path, she was going to be late no matter how fast she went, even if she ran. But if this irritatingly handsome boy standing next to her was right, and he did in fact know a few shortcuts back, then she could make it to work on time. Besides, what did she have to lose by telling him, anyway? "Follow me," she said in a hesitating voice as she ran down the street and took a right, going this way and that until she finally stopped. "Stay here," she ordered him.

"Why?" he laughed. He didn't even seem winded despite the fact that they'd been running at an incredibly fast rate for quite a while now.

"I'm not going to show you the exact street that I live, obviously," she said in exasperation. "Don't. Move."

Before she could listen to his response, she darted down the street, made a few more turns, and banged on the door of her house.

"Annie?" her little sister, Delphi, opened the door, her eyes wide. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot my bag," Annie panted out. "Can you get it for me?"

Delphi nodded before she dashed into the kitchen and retrieved her sister's bag. "Here," she smiled as she handed it over.

"Thanks," she said before she ran back down the turns and to the street to the spot where the boy was still standing.

His arms were crossed, and he leaned lazily against an unlit lamppost. When he saw her, he rose a single eyebrow. "Took you long enough." He took a few steps until there was only a few feet between them.

"Where's the shortcut?" she asked.

Without a warning, he grabbed her bag and slung it over his shoulder, and when she opened her mouth to protest, he wrapped his left hand around her right wrist and then they were running forwards, such a quick blur that it was hard to see which streets they were speeding down, which twists and turns they dashed by.

When they finally stopped, she saw that they had reached the Victor's Village. Annie stared angrily at the boy. "You told me you knew a shortcut, you lying-"

He ignored her hissing at him and continued to drag her through the village despite her protests, stopping at the third house on the right. They walked up the porch steps and he knocked loudly on the door. "Aunt Capet!" he shouted.

The door swung open, and a kind-looking woman who looked to be her mother's age opened the door, her eyebrows raised. "Finnick? What are you doing here?"

_Finnick?_ That name was very, very familiar to her. Again, Annie felt that she should know why, but for some reason, she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was. She racked at her brains, searching for some connection.

"I need you to drive us to the ocean. Can you do that?"

"Drive you?" Finnick's aunt rose her eyebrows. "I thought you preferred walking?"

"We'll be late if we do," Finnick replied tersely. "Look, can you do it or not?"

"Yeah," Capet nodded. "Just wait here, let me open the garage and start the engine."

The door slammed shut in their faces, and Finnick finally released his grip on Annie's hand. He could have turned to her and said something like "I told you so", but he didn't. Instead, he asked her, "Satisfied?"

"Thanks," she said quietly. Then, "Why are you helping me?"

He gave a shrug of his shoulders as the garage door opened and a shiny blue car came out. "It's a slightly my fault that you might have been late."

"It doesn't mean that you had to help me," she said pointedly.

"Right," he nodded. "But you're different."

What was that supposed to mean? "And that means what, exactly?" Annie frowned.

He smiled at her. "It's refreshing," was all he said before they both got into the back of the car and Capet drove off.

_Distant Past_

There was the sound of a key turning in the lock of the front door, and then it swung open before being slammed loudly shut. The treading of familiar footsteps. Annie set down her homework and was barely aware of sliding the kitchen chair back before she ran to the living room. Could it be? Was he really back?

It was him. He stood there, alone, and he looked like a little boy, so lost and vulnerable. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his usually amused sea green eyes had a dead, hollow quality. He didn't even notice her, not at first. He placed his head in his hands, buried it there as though he had been defeated. This wasn't Finnick, but death did that to people. Death and who knew what else. She couldn't let him stand there, alone and lost and so shattered-looking.

Before she could help herself, Annie ran to him, throwing her arms around him. "Finnick!" she let out a relieved sigh as she breathed in his familiar scent.

He relaxed into her arms, and then his hands wrapped around her, jerking her closer to him so that there was no space between their bodies, only him and her. "Annie," he breathed out as he bent his head down and buried his face inside her hair, inhaling her scent. "Oh, Annie." A sigh full of obvious relief and an odd type of awe.

"Finnick," she murmured, her grip on him tightening as they stood there, locked in their embrace. She could smell soap on him, indicating a recent shower, and he reeked of cologne. Cologne? Finnick never had any real interest it, not when he thought that it'd made him smell like every other Victor. Why was he wearing it now? To be honest, Annie thought that the smell was a little bit off-putting, but she wasn't going to tell him that, not now.

They stood there for a long time like that, just hugging, their arms wrapped around each other, not letting go. Finally, he pulled back as his sea green eyes searched her face, looking over her form. His left hand was snaked around her waist, and the other reached out in wonder and caressed her face with his fingers. "You're alright," he whispered, and there was a strange kind of relief in his voice. "You're really alright."

She opened her mouth to speak, "I-" Finnick jerked her to him once more, his arms wrapped around her as he hugged her to him, so tightly that she thought she might suffocate for a moment. Clearly, he had thought that he'd never see her again. "Can't breathe," she managed to get out.

He pulled back abruptly, an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to-"

"No," she shook her head and took his elbow, guiding him towards the couch. "Sit down," she said softly.

"I can't," he shook his head roughly. "I can't, I have to clear my head, I have to-"

Annie nodded, and then she guided him out the door and through the Victor's Village, leading him this way and that until they reached their lake. "Do you want to go in?" she asked, finally.

Finnick said nothing for a long time. He simply stared out at the water, like he wanted to dive to the bottom and just let himself drown. It scared her, to think that he was thinking that. This wasn't the Finnick she knew. The Finnick she knew was strong and would be pushing her in before he jumped into the water after her. This Finnick looked so broken, like the deaths had been too much for him. He would never again see the kind look in his mother's eyes or hear the loud chuckles of his father, would never listen to the ecstatic shrieks and conspiratorial giggles of his little brother and sister, would never drive around with his aunt in her shiny blue car. Gone, they were all gone. There was nothing that he could ever do to bring them back.

"Finnick?" Annie asked in a soft voice. "Do you want to be alone?"

He turned to her suddenly. He had almost forgotten that she was there and where they were. He had been too lost in his train of thought, hadn't realized that he had been so quiet for so long. "No," he shook his head, and his voice was barely a whisper. He sat down and took off his shoes before he dipped his feet in the water, letting it try and soothe him. "Stay," he whispered.

She sat down beside him without uttering a single word, and her feet dipped into the water beside his, but they didn't touch. Finnick moved his feet so that they brushed up and down her right leg, and she gave him a smile before he rested his head on her right shoulder. She stroked his hair as he cried silently, the tears running down his face, not saying anything at all. And so they sat there like that for a very long time, feet tangled together in the water, his head on her shoulder, her fingers in his hair, the two of them grieving silently.


	3. Part III: Like It's Invading Your Mind

A/N: I'm really, really sorry I didn't update this story yesterday as promised. There was some stuff that I had to deal with IRL, so I apologize for that.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to leave their feedback for the last chapter! To windyday, SQUISHPIE, BlueGreyRainbow, RiverOtter1, xMoonlessx, Elle, and Annony: thank you! To everyone who added this story to their favorite or put it on alert or put me on author alert: wow! Thank you! (:

And I will do my best to update this story everyday. (:

Quick sidenote for those people who are PM'ing me: I'm hoping to update _Impossible _sometime soon, but for right now, this story takes priority. I do know where that story is headed, though.

Anyway! On to the story, my lovely readers! And, as usual, your feedback would not only be very much appreciated but would be very awesome-sauce. They really do make my day! (:

Part III: Like It's Invading Your Mind

_A Very Distant Past_

Annie found that Finnick's aunt Capet was very talkative. She chattered the car ride away about random, trivial things that Annie found a bit boring. But she'd been generous enough to drive them both to the ocean, so Annie wasn't going to open her mouth and ask her to be quiet (add that on top of the fact that to do so would be very rude, too).

Finnick had shown her how to roll down the windows, and Annie stuck her head out, laughing and letting the wind blow her hair this way and that, tendrils of it getting all over her face as she felt the vibration of the stereo that Capet had put on.

It was her first time in a real car, not some bus that they all boarded at school to go and see the ocean with or some other field trip. She couldn't say that she missed the old method of transportation much. It had been fun, sitting on the bulky white buses and getting to be next to your friend. But there was no sticking your head out the window, and there had always been a strange, pungent odor that reeked of a very strong cleaner. One time, her friend Ecil had made the morbid comment that the Peacekeepers killed and tortured people on the buses for fun. That was why there was the smell, Ecil had said. They cleaned it afterwards with some highly powerful cleaner so that you couldn't smell the blood or see the aftermath. Everyone had thought that this was ridiculous, of course. But now, Annie wasn't so sure.

But this car was fun. In fact, when it slammed forward in order to let a line of ducks walk down the street, Capet turned around from the front and smiled at Annie. "Do you want to sit up here with me?"

"Me?" Annie's eyes widened.

"Yes, you," Capet smiled at the same time that Finnick hid his amused laugh with a cough. "Come on!"

Annie opened the door and Finnick leaned over from his side to close it before Annie opened the front passenger door and got into the seat beside Capet. "Thanks," she smiled.

"You can play with the system if you want," Capet winked. The last of the family of ducks finished crossing the street, and then they sped off. That was another thing. The buses had always gone at a very boring, moderately medium-ish speed. Capet drove crazy fast, as though someone was chasing her, like a woman possessed. It was a surprise to Annie that Capet had seen the ducks at all. Then again, the monitor that was below a set of confusing controls was full of different colors, obviously busy detecting the movements of the car and telling Capet what was going on.

Annie turned a half-blue and half-red knob, and as she did so, there was a strong blast of warm air that blew throughout the car. "It's a heater!" she exclaimed excitedly in delight.

Capet laughed, as though she thought Annie was the most adorable person she'd ever seen. "It is," she nodded her head.

Excited, Annie pressed on the monitor, and a male voice said, "Hello."

"It talks!" Annie exclaimed, her eyes widening.

Finnick was laughing in the back. "Of course it does."

"Stop referring to me as an 'it', Mr. Odair," the male voice bristled. "I do have both a gender _and _a name, you, you know."

"Are you the brain of the car?" Annie asked.

"In a sense," the voice said. "I'm Harte."

Oh. This was the part when she was supposed to give her name. Annie wasn't about to give her name to complete strangers, though, so she lied. "I'm Delta," she offered.

"Delta?" Finnick arched an eyebrow in the back of the car, and his voice was full of disbelief.

"Is there a problem with that?" Annie didn't turn back to look at him.

"Your name is Delta?" he sounded incredulous.

"What?" Annie spun around and glared at him.

He began to laugh, as though what she'd said was the funniest thing in the world. "You're hilarious."

"Stop laughing at her name, Finnick," Capet said in a stern voice. "There's nothing funny about it."

Finnick didn't stop laughing, though, and Annie turned back to the front seat. "It's okay. He's just too immature to stop."

"I would agree with that," Harte concurred. "He doesn't seem to know when to put an end to it half the time."

"You're just biased because I always call you 'it'," Finnick smirked.

"While that may be a part of it, you must admit that what I've said has plenty of truth in it," Harte replied.

Finnick rose his eyebrows. "Actually, that might be a little bit true. But I'm only ten years old. What do you expect, some wise fifty-year-old?"

"Can you two stop arguing?" Capet cut in. "It never ends," she shot Annie an apologetic look.

"Oh, it ends," Finnick nodded. "When I win, of course."

"Stop being so smug," Harte said.

"You're just a sore loser," Finnick sing-songed.

"Really? Are you serious?" Annie shook her head in disbelief as she turned around to look at him once more. "What are you, five?"

"Nope," Finnick crossed his arms so that they cradled the back of his head and he leaned back. He was still smirking, one that held so much arrogance that she wanted to wipe it off of his face.

"You know, you should-"

"The day I'm five is the day your real name is Delta," he cut in, ignoring whatever her response might have been.

"Finnick, leave her alone," his aunt sighed.

"What?" he shot her an innocent look. "I'm not doing anything wrong."

"Look, just do us all a favor and shut up, would you?" Annie gave him a look before she focused her attention on Harte once more.

"If you say so," he shrugged, but Annie knew that he still had that smug look on his face, a smirk that would still be there when they arrived at their destination.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

After he'd left Katniss, who was bitter and angry with him, Finnick simply sat in the meeting room, waiting for any bit of news. It had been minutes since then, and yet, it felt as though hours and hours had passed by, making Finnick wonder why they still hadn't arrived in District 13. Whenever the screen made a loud beep and it was announced that there was urgent news, Finnick shot up, his heart racing. But no, nothing about Annie. It was all about some explosion here or the Peacekeepers causing a panic there, about the people wresting control from the Peacekeepers in some of the Districts. But nothing about the one person that he was looking for. Nothing about Annie. There were alerts about people who had gone missing or certain Victors that had been killed, but no, no Annie. Nothing.

He was panicked and calm at the same time. Panicked, because he knew, in his mind, that if no news came in about her, it would mean that she had been taken about the Capitol. But calm, because it could also mean that she had somehow hid herself, one way or another, and was safe. But the latter was too much to hope for. But what else could he do but hold on to his hope? If he let go of it, he would already be losing, and then there would be nothing left. Nothing at all.

The screen beeped once more, and he buried his face into his hands as he waited for what news he would be given this time, just listening. "... group of Victors from District 4."

Finnick's head jerked up and his eyes widened, and he stood up so quickly that he knocked the chair that he had been sitting in over. "Annie," he breathed out.

The man on the other side of the screen went on. "We've tried to find her as you've ordered, sir, but she's gone. We believe she was taken by the Capitol, because there was signs of a struggle, but I'm sure that she was outnumbered, and I-"

So that was that, then. She had been taken. Snatched from him. Gone. No. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Not Annie. Not the last person that he had left. The last person he loved in the world, the only woman that he had ever loved. Not her. Please not her. "No," he whispered, his face stark white.

"Finnick," Plutarch made a cautious move towards him. "Finnick, just because they said that they couldn't find her and it looked like there was a fight, it doesn't mean that-"

"They took her," Finnick ignored him, speaking to himself, his voice rising with each word he uttered. "Annie. They took Annie."

"Finnick, listen, it-"

"They took her!" he screamed as he ran to the wall, pounding his fists against it, letting out a guttural, human cry as he did so. "Annie!" he yelled. "_Annie!_"

"Finnick!" Plutarch shouted, attempting to calm the young man down before he had to call in help to come and restrain him. No, he wouldn't resort to that measure yet.

"_Annie!_" Finnick was beyond any help now. He was gone, pushed over the edge and into insanity. He no longer saw, no longer cared about anything but this. "_Annie!_"

"I need help in here," Plutarch spoke quickly into his headset. There was nothing that he could do for Finnick now. Nothing but to contain the Victor before he destroyed himself.

Finnick's fingers clawed at the wall as he slammed himself against it, his fingernails running red as he broke them, the blood flowing from his fingers and downwards, a steady stream of red that flowed freely in contrast against the bronze of his skin. "_Annie!_" he screamed.

This was all his fault. If he hadn't ever told her about what had happened to him, if he'd never gotten in that fight with her in the first place and goaded her into volunteering for the 70th Hunger Games - so many ifs. If he had done this, if he had done that, if he hadn't done one thing and refused to do another - why? Why, why, why? Why Annie? Why did it have to be Annie? Please let this be a dream, because-

The door burst open, and a few unfamiliar faces came towards him. He knew what they saw. Finnick Odair, who normally looked so smug and sane, was the opposite of that now. He had a wild look in his eyes and his hair was a tangled mass of messy curls. His clothes were in a disarray, an indication that he had tore and tugged at them. The most striking thing was the bloodiness of his hands, the red color that came from clawing his nails against the wall.

They came at him with a sedative, attempting to restrain him. But he was Finnick Odair, and he wasn't some stupid pretty boy who didn't know anything. He was a Victor, and he knew when people were trying to stop him. He slammed the first one against the wall, threw his fallen chair at the next one that charged, ran head-on into the third one, yelling and shouting. They wrestled on the floor, both of them vying for control, one trying to inject the other with a sedative while the latter tried to twist the hand of the former. "I won't go with you," Finnick breathed out as he reached for the other man's hand, pressing his fingers against the wrist as hard as he could.

The man's grip on the syringe loosened, and it clattered to the floor beside Finnick's head. "Look, we need to get you to-"

"I'm not going!" Finnick roared angrily. "I'm not going without Annie!"

They continued to fight, blows being exchanged here and there, more and more people coming in to contain him. It was like the fact that she had been captured had unleashed some sort of feral creature, one who was intent on taking everyone down with him.

Finally, after several minutes, they managed to pin him against the wall, even as he struggled, even as he kicked at them and shouted a stream of steady expletives and screamed for Annie to forgive him. The needle pressed against his forearm, and Finnick continued to struggle and yell for a few more minutes as they attempted to drag him to the hospital before he finally collapsed, his head slumped forwards as they placed him on the stretcher and set him down on the bed that lay next to Katniss Everdeen's.

_Distant Past_

They sat there in silence, something that had settled quickly between the two of them these past couple of days. But it was okay. For the most part, it wasn't an awkward sort of silence. It was more of Finnick's wish to not speak at all about anything, and Annie thought it would be pretty rude if she said something and shattered his thoughts.

There were few sounds that could be heard. One was that of their spoons dipping into the large sundae that was piled high, full of a half-dozen different flavors of ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and completed with a cherry on top. Another sound was that of the chewing of the dessert as they swirled it around in their mouths. Finally, there was the thumping of the spoon against their mouths, but nothing else.

Finnick set down his spoon and picked the cherry off of the top before he plunged it into the whipped cream, twirling it this way and that in his fingers before he brought it to his face, scrutinizing it as though it were some sort of lab experiment. "Huh," he said softly. "Funny."

"What is it?" Annie asked him in a hushed voice, stopping her spoon mid-scoop. He didn't answer her for a long while, his green eyes simply peering at the cherry as though it could give him the answers to everything. "Finnick?" her voice was soft.

He plopped the cherry into his mouth, chewing without hurry, as though he wanted to savor the taste. Then, very slowly, he turned to her. "Hmm?"

She reached her right hand over and placed it gingerly over his cool left one. He grasped her fingers with his until their fingers were laced tightly together. "I'm here," was all she said.

"I know," he replied.

And that was all.

_Present Day_

"I found him extremely annoying when we first met. I'm not going to deny that I thought he was some arrogant boy that I couldn't wait to get rid of. But he persisted, and he kept on following me. And you know what? I'm glad that he did. I'm glad he didn't just let me walk off. I'm glad that he ran after me and kept on asking me questions, that he kept on annoying me, because who knows if I'd ever have met him again if he hadn't, if things would have gone the same way?"

_A Very Distant Past_

"Wait!" Finnick called as he hurried after Annie, who had gotten out of the car as fast as she could after thanking Aunt Capet. "Delta, wait up!"

"Go away," she said, ignoring him. He really couldn't stop, could he? It was like he was some weird sort of puppy who couldn't take no for an answer. Then again, puppies were much cuter and could probably get their way with her if she let them.

He caught up with her. "If this is about you and your name, I was just-"

"Look, I'm late for work." Annie said tersely. "Again, go _away_."

Finnick laughed. "You know, you're a terrible liar."

"Yeah?'" she didn't turn to look at him. "And why's that?"

"When you said you were late, I was assuming that you had the six o'clock shift. Am I right?"

"And this is your concern _why_?"

"Well, for starters, it's only five thirty. Secondly, if you really were late, you would be running, not walking and letting me talk to you." Finnick paused. "Oh, and I also know for a fact that Delta isn't your real name."

"So why are you following me?" Annie asked as they walked past the open gate.

"I have the six o'clock shift, too," he smiled as they got closer to the dock.

"Thank goodness we're not going to be on the same boat, then," she replied.

Finnick let out a laugh as they walked past the seemingly endless row of boats. "Oh, I'm not so sure about that."

"Really?" Annie shot him an irritated look. "You don't seem so sure about that to me."

"Oh, I am." He had that stupid smug look on his face again.

"What did you say your name was again?" Annie shook her head in exasperation. It wasn't his first name that she needed to find out, but his last name. Maybe then she could figure out why he seemed so familiar.

"So you're interested in me now?" Finnick's grin widened. "Took you long enough."

They had reached the wooden dock now. "Actually, contrary to your inflated ego's belief, I'm not. Interested in you, that is."

"So why do you want to know?" he was still smiling. How very annoying.

She gave a shrug of her shoulders. "So that I can know who exactly I need to avoid in the future."

Finnick laughed. He didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by what she had just said. In fact, if anything, this clearly amused him. "All right."

"Finally," Annie let out a sigh of obvious relief.

"But," he held up a single finger. Ah, here came the stipulation. "On one condition." He waved his index finger from left to right.

"What's that?" she sighed, knowing what was coming.

"Your name," Finnick breathed out, as though it was some sort of magic. "Tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine."

"A tit for tat?"

He nodded. "No made-up stuff. The real thing."

"Fine," Annie said. "You first." They reached the part of the wooden dock that held the fishing boat Annie was going to board.

"Finnick," he smiled. "Finnick Odair." _Odair. _That surname sounded extremely familiar. Now she just had to figure out where she'd heard it before. Annie searched her mind, but could find no quick answer. "Hello? Faux Delta?" he waved his left hand in front of her face. "Are you okay?"

That jolted her out of her thoughts. "I'm Annie," she said simply. It was an honest answer, what he was looking for.

He rose his eyebrows. "Last name?"

"C. Annie C.," she said before she spun on her heel and walked up to the boat. "That's all you're going to get, Finnick Odair."

"Hey, that's cheating!" Finnick exclaimed as he followed her.

Didn't he ever learn? Why was he so persistent? "Yes, and I'm very fair. Actually, you never said anything about last names. Just a real name."

"I gave you mine," he said.

"Believe it or not, you chose to give me yours," Annie said pointedly. "There's a difference."

"Are you always this defensive?" he asked.

"Are you always this annoyingly persistent?" she countered.

"Perhaps," Finnick said, his lips twisting into a smile.

_A Little While Ago_

"You don't have to do this, you know," Haymitch said in a careful voice. "Not if you don't want to."

"Don't," Annie shook her head. "You know I have to. I want to."

He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Annie. I hope you know that."

She nodded, because she did. "I know."

"When he was..." Haymitch tried to find more euphemistic words for what he was trying to say, "sold in the Capitol" - nothing could ever make it sound like it was nothing, though, could ever make it sound like it was no big deal - "I'm sorry about that."

"They killed your family too, right?" Annie asked in a soft voice.

He nodded, and a pained look crossed over his face. How could he ever forget? "All three of them," he whispered. "My mother, my little brother, my girlfriend. Snow did it because of how I won, and because afterwards, I refused to allow him to sell my body."

Annie bit her lip as an understanding look spread across her features. "They killed five of Finnick's," she whispered back. "His parents, his siblings, his aunt."

"I know," he nodded. Haymitch peered at her, as though he was trying to figure something out. Then, "You know, he was the first one to defy Snow after me."

"No, I didn't," Annie shook her head. "Was he really?" she asked. "You're not just saying this to make me feel better or something?"

Haymitch inclined his head. "He was the first one in so many years after me to defy Snow's demands. I want you to know this so that... so that you can be more proud of him than you already are. His family died because of what he did, but-" He broke off, clearly unable to continue with what he was saying. "He was strong. He was so strong, Annie. And he really loved you and Mags. Especially you. You were his world. But you already know that, don't you?"

"I do," she bit her lip, trying to keep herself from bursting into tears once more. Finnick. Oh, Finnick.

"He never stopped," Haymitch said. "I think that's what I always remembered thinking about him."

Annie let out a sad laugh, and then Haymitch stepped forwards and enfolded her in his arms, a fatherly embrace that spoke of understanding and a sadness that would never go away for either of them.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

When Finnick finally awoke about an hour or so later from the haze of sedatives that they had given him, he found himself lying in the exact same room where he had walked away from Katniss, not wanting to hear her anger and the words that would tear at him if he had to listen to any more of it. He sat up quickly, and saw that his hands were not held back by restraints. Perhaps they trusted that he wouldn't lose a grip on himself now. But they didn't know him. He could go at any moment, and the truth was that he no longer cared if he did or not.

"You're awake," Katniss observed calmly, her voice quiet.

He nodded. "Yeah." Finnick slumped his head back against the pillow that was propped up behind him, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment before he opened them once more and directed his attention to the Girl on Fire.

"What brings you back here?" She inquired. "I thought you left?"

"In case you haven't noticed, the two of us always seem to end up put together in the same place, no matter how annoyed we are by each other."

"Oh, goody," Katniss said sarcastically. "Just what I need."

"Fine," Finnick crossed his arms and drew his legs up before he placed his head against them like a small child. "Think what you like."

Her face softened for a moment. "What happened?"

Just one word that explained it all. "Annie."

Comprehension, and then a sudden understanding, flickered across her face. "Oh," Katniss said softly. "Oh. Finnick, I-"

"Don't," Finnick shook his head as he turned his slumped head to her. "It doesn't-"

"Make anything better," she finished. "I know." Then, "Do you really wish she was dead?"

He didn't answer her question. "Do you really wish Peeta was dead?"

"Yes," she whispered. "Death is better than what they're going to do to him."

"I think you'll get him back," was all Finnick said. Nothing more, nothing less.

She gave a defeated shrug of her shoulders. "Do you really wish Annie was dead?" A repeat of her original question.

"I don't know," he whispered back. "I really don't know."


	4. Part IV: Name Your Price

A/N: Wow, you guys! Thank you so, so much for all of your feedback! Why are you guys so amazing? To all of the reviewers: Annony, RiverOtter1, xMoonlessx, Jolanda, Elle, Kelly, and AWhiteBlankPage: thank you! Thank you so much! And to everyone who favorited this story, added it to their alerts, or favorited me as an author and put me on alert: thank you! That all does mean a lot to me, you guys! (:

Random, but! Have you guys seen thismellark's trailer for Mockingjay? It's brilliant and epic and just wow. IMO it's the best fan-made trailer I've seen; if you haven't seen it yet, do it ASAP! (: Her username is Heisavampire, and the video is called "Mockingjay movie trailer HD". WATCH. NOW.

Anyhow! On to the next chappie! I hope you guys enjoy it! And, like always, your feedback would be greatly appreciated! (:

Part IV: Name Your Price

_A Very Distant Past_

Annie didn't want to admit that Finnick was surprisingly good at this. Then again, he had said that this was his job, and truth be told, he'd seemed like the type who would be good at weaving nets. But the smugness that he seemed to carry around disappeared as he focused on the task at hand, never once letting his concentration waver except to carry on a conversation with her. Even then, he didn't seem distracted at all.

They sat side-by-side, their backs against the hard, cold back of the fishing ship. They weaved the each net together, Finnick going on and on about some topic she wasn't really paying attention to. _Think_, she thought. Where had she heard his name before? Why was he so familiar?

"And then I told him that he was being pretty silly. You know, to this day, I think he still doesn't really like me for that," Finnick said.

"That's great," Annie replied, not knowing what he had been talking about.

Finnick threw her a look. "You weren't paying attention to me at all, were you?"

She gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Not really."

He didn't seemed offended, because he knew that he had no right to be. They barely even knew each other, so why should he? "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Stuff that isn't really your business," Annie replied.

Finnick laughed. "How do I know it's not my business?"

"Do you always like digging into other people's private affairs?" she asked.

This time he was the one who shrugged. "For the most part."

"I see," Annie said. "That's-"

"Weird? Creepy? Strange? Annoying?" Finnick shot out before she could continue. Another shrug of his shoulders. "You know, you learn a lot just by observing. What kind of personality someone has. What drives them, what makes them easily annoyed. What-"

"I was going to say that it was interesting," she said softly. "I mean, it does sound a little bit weird, but you do have a point."

Finnick's eyes widened before a grin spread across his handsome face. "Wow."

She knit her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

He stopped working on his side of the net. "You didn't actually insult me or tell me off for once."

Annie fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Don't make me regret it."

He let out a laugh. "Think I'll get your last name by the end of the day?"

She smiled at him. "Nope."

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

"Sit down!" the Peacekeeper barked at her.

Annie obeyed, not wanting to bring any harm to the very battered form that lay on the stretcher. _Stay calm, Annie_, she told herself. _No emotion. Don't show them anything. Don't let them think that you're affected by any of this. _

"Do you know this person?" the Peacekeeper - Annie decided to name her Dubont - gestured at Johanna.

Annie's eyes assessed the form that was in a half daze between consciousness and sleep, whose body was full of marks and cuts and bruises, whose eyes were swollen and who was getting her hair shaved off. "Sort of," Annie admitted. Better to tell a little bit of truth than to lie and have them find out. That would only result in something much worse happening to Johanna, and who knew what they were going to do to Annie if they did find out?

"Good answer," Dubont smiled. "How well do you know her?"

Here was the tricky part. What kind of answer were they looking for? If she appeared to be too emotionally attached or showed any sense of friendship, Johanna would be put through worse, much worse. Already they were placing a dark blue cloth over her face, a hose being turned on in the corner of the cell. But if she appeared to be unconcerned, they would know that she was bluffing, and then what they did might be worse. Okay then. "Not that well," Annie shrugged. "I only met her once."

"And when was that?" Dubont asked as she sprayed the hose against the wall, testing it. "Bring the buckets instead!" she barked to another Peacekeeper who was standing by.

"During her Victory Tour," Annie answered honestly. No, that hadn't been the only time. But she wasn't going to tell Dubont that. "I was introduced to her at a party, and that's-"

"You like water," Dubont interrupted. "Don't you, Annie?"

This was a trick question, of course. "I think so."

"Then you'll have no problem with what we're about to do, am I right?" Dubont smiled as the buckets were brought in.

"I don't know," Annie said. "What _are_ you going to do?"

"Something with water," Dubont laughed as two Peacekeepers locked the restraints on Johanna's hands, checking them twice to make sure that they were secure. "I think you'll like it very much."

Then it came. The water, poured down onto Johanna, seeping through the sort-of thick cloth that covered her and spilling onto her face. Annie knew what this was. There was no physical pain being done here. Nothing but the pain of the mind. It was the sensation of being drowned, of being unable to fight it as your hands were restrained, and soon enough, some people who went through this wanted to die. But Johanna wouldn't want to die, because she was a fighter. She would become paranoid, like so many others had.

A tank was being wheeled in now, with several different wires spilling out. "Move her!" Dubont shouted.

The cloth was yanked off of Johanna's face, the restraints on her hands unlocked, and then they dumped her roughly into the tank as they filled it with water, spraying the hose. Johanna was struggling, trying to claw her way out, but she was shoved back in each time, held down as buckets were dumped on her face.

"So," Dubont walked, moving forward so quickly that she was suddenly right in front of Annie. "Isn't this fun?"

The tank was half-filled now, and Johanna was choking and busy screaming a stream of obscenities at the Peacekeepers who were holding her down. "It's okay," Annie shrugged.

"Only okay?" Dubont frowned.

"You're going to do more to her, aren't you?" Annie said it more as a statement than a question.

"Very good," Dubont laughed, very much amused. "She should talk to us after this. We expect so, anyway."

"And if she doesn't?" Annie asked, forcing as much casualty into her voice as possible.

Dubont shrugged. "Personally, I'd rather just kill her and get it over with, but if the higher-ups don't give the order, we can't do it."

"I see," Annie said.

"No, you don't," Dubont laughed before she yanked Annie forward from where she sat and marched them both towards the tank so that they were standing in front of it, watching. "You're going to keep your eyes open and your ears unplugged. Do you understand me, Annie Cresta?"

Johanna was thrashing in the water, huge bubbles being blown out of her mouth as she struggled, her eyes filling with water as she tried to keep them open. The lid slammed shut over the tank, and Johanna clawed at the glass, trying to break through the surface and escape, ramming herself against the enclosed space. The wires were turned on, and Annie watched as Johanna was shocked through the tank, saw the price that was paid for knowing so many secrets. "Yes," she said in a firm voice. "I do understand."

_Distant Past_

It was a sunny day, and inappropriately so. This whole period of time was one of mourning. Why should the sun be shining so brightly on them when they were shrouded by death?

The funeral procession went by, and Finnick stood the entire ceremony, not once sitting down in the proffered white chair. His face was blank, emotionless. He held on to Annie's hand as tightly as he could, as though she was the last anchor that he was holding on to. Without her - if he let go - then everything would be gone. Annie never once let go, didn't complain or wince when his grip tightened as the caskets were brought forward one by one. She simply held his hand and cried softly as she stood beside him, especially when Pisca and Sesser's caskets were brought forward. They were too young to be gone. Much, much too young. They would never see the sun shine ever again, would never splash in the ocean or tease him about Annie. No, those days were gone. All gone. He wouldn't get to watch his little sister and little brother grow up, and that hurt.

They brought Aunt Capet's casket forward, and as Finnick stared, he remembered. He remembered that she had tried to warn him, had tried to tell him, in her own way, to beware of the Capitol. She'd tried to tell him what happened to desirable Victors like him. Was that why she refused to have children? Because she knew that they might be reaped and then forced to do things against their will after they won? Aunt Capet, with her shiny blue car, would never again drive him here and there or give him advice.

And his mother and father. No more bedtime stories that he remembered as a child, no more soft lullabies to sing him and his siblings to sleep. No more laughing, no more affection, no more anything. No sitting in their laps as he did his homework as a child. Nothing was left, nothing at all.

Finnick had been in denial at first. How could they be gone? These five people that had always been such fixtures in his life. How? How? How, how, how? Once he'd answered the question, he didn't deny it anymore. The truth of the matter was that even if he-

Annie squeezed his hand as a coworker of his father's went up and spoke. Annie. The truth was that if he didn't do what Snow wanted, she and Mags would be harmed. Then he would have to live with seven deaths on his shoulders. Seven deaths that could have been stopped, had he just said "yes" instead of refusing. He would always have to live with this, would grow old and die a lonely, bitter man who hated everything around him.

No. Better to let himself feel empty inside and be violated than to watch two more people that he loved die because of him. Then he would be truly alone, wouldn't he? Nothing else to live for.

Maybe someday they could all run away. But to where? Who knew? Maybe they'd take a boat full of their possessions and sail off, never once looking back and not returning. Maybe they'd look and see if there were any places left in the world besides Panem. They could fish everyday, swim in the ocean. That wouldn't be a bad life, would it?

But was it possible? No, it wasn't. It was a fantasy, of course. The Capitol would know what he had done, and when the three of them were caught and brought back, the retaliation would be swift and hard. He'd probably be forced to watch Annie and Mags die in a long, slow process before the Capitol killed him off as well.

So then the answer was no, wasn't it? There was no way out of this, none at all.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

"Hello, Finnick," the doctor said as she stood in front of him. "I'm Falliana. I understand that you're in shock, but I'm going to do my best to make sure that you're okay."

What? What was she talking about? "What?" he blurted out as he played with the rope in his fingers. Make a knot. Loop the rope this way. Tie it. There. See? You have another knot now. Now, to undo it or make more? Okay, let's do one more, and then we'll untie it.

"I'm Falliana, one of the doctors. You're in shock right now, but I'll do everything that I can so that you end up okay." Her voice was kind, and her eyes held not pity, but sympathy. That was important, that one felt sympathy and not pity. Because pity was the one thing that he could not stand.

Wait, what had she said? All he had seen was the movement of her lips, and although Finnick was usually adept at reading lips, he couldn't bring himself to care about any of that anymore. "What did you say?" he asked. That's one more knot you made just now. Okay, untie the rope now. One by one, so that you won't think about it. One knot at a time. Slowly. Slowly, okay?

"My name is Falliana, Finnick. I'm one of the doctors. You know your friend Katniss Everdeen? Her mother is sort of in charge here, but she thought it might be nice for me to focus on you." She paused, trying to see if he was absorbing her words, trying to let what she had just said sink in.

What? What was that she said? Something about Katniss? Katniss. Peeta. The bread boy. Katniss's lover. The bread boy was gone, wasn't he? Just like Annie was. But Annie was better off, Finnick thought. Still, would it be so hard for him to wrap this rope around his neck after he had made a noose? He would be dead, and then he would not have to suffer like this. Except the annoying fact of the matter that the rope was less than a foot long. Not nearly enough for a noose, even the smallest one that he could make. Damn it. Damn, damn, damn. "Katniss," he said softly. "Where is she?"

"She's..." Falliana looked like she didn't know what to say. Finally, she settled on a vague, "She's better now."

Better. What would be better? For him to have never loved Annie at all, so that she wouldn't be taken by the Capitol right now? But did it really matter, in the end? Maybe it did. Maybe if she'd never known him, Annie would never have went into the Games. Okay. That made sense. But Finnick was a selfish, selfish creature. As much as he wished that for Annie, he couldn't help thinking that it wasn't fair to him if that had happened. If he had never fallen for Annie, then he wouldn't know what love was, would he? Not the type of love that one had for their siblings or family, but the type of love that was a "I-will-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you" type. Annie and Annie alone had taught him that.

Good gods, he wanted her so much right now that it hurt. _Stop it_, he commanded himself. Stop thinking of Annie. Stop thinking, because then you're going to end up thinking about how they're no doubt torturing her for information that they know she doesn't have. Or worse, they're subjecting her to some form of cruelty that they know will hurt her, like watching her fellow prisoners get tortured. Having to listen to the sound of screaming all day long - that was what scared Annie, what made her want to run and hide.

Stop thinking about her. Focus on the rope in your hand. All the knots are untied now. So now you start over again, knot by knot by knot. Your fingers are moving at a fast, blurring pace that usually amazes people who watch. But it helps you not think. You focus on the rope, on the feel of it against your fingers, feel your hands grow raw and even bloodied if you keep at it long enough.

In the whole scope of things - wait. Why was there that loud noise? Was someone talking to him? Oh, who cares? He didn't care.

Finnick slumped back into his bed, throwing the covers over his head as he let sleep overtake him, as he drifted off to the world of nightmares.

_A Little While Ago_

"I don't think so," Enobaria frowned at Johanna. "What's the whole purpose of that, anyway?"

"Well, obviously you District 2 people never learned your lesson," Johanna snapped.

Annie just stood there, watching them bicker, trying to bring herself to smile at the absurdity of it all. But she couldn't, because there was so little humor in things nowadays. She thought of Finnick, of how he could always make her laugh at just about anything. What was she going to do without him? To go through the years without him - the pain of it had hit her like a crashing car, but she didn't know if it would ever stop. People said that the pain would lift with time, but Annie knew that pain like this would never leave her. Not when it was Finnick who had been taken from her so cruelly.

She heard footsteps behind her, and as she turned, Annie saw that Katniss had come up beside her. "What are they arguing about?" the other young woman asked.

"Random stuff about the plans that Paylor and the others have for the former Capitol," Annie replied.

"Shouldn't they be in agreement over that?" Katniss rose her eyebrows.

Annie let out a strange sound that wasn't really a laugh. "You would think so, wouldn't you? But I think it's just another excuse for them to argue with each other. They never did get along."

Katniss let out a breath. "You think they're ever going to?"

"Who knows?" Annie shrugged. "Maybe they'll be like you and-" She stopped, trying to find the right words. "You didn't like Finnick at first, did you?"

Katniss laughed. "Finnick was different."

"He was, wasn't he?" Annie gave her a sad smile before she put her fingers to her lips, remembering the feel of his mouth against hers. "He always was."

_Present Day_

"He was annoyingly persistent. But that's the thing that you get to learn about Finnick. He doesn't stop doing something if he sets his mind to it. That day, his purpose was to irritate me as much as possible, but looking back, it was more than that. Later, when we were best friends, Finnick told me that he was so persistent because he thought that I was intriguing."

_A Very Distant Past_

The day seemed to go by in a quick blur. After they had finished weaving about six nets, the fishing boat pulled out of the dock, and they set to the more important work, busily casting out the huge nets and heaving them up. They counted the inventory brought in, and a bit past two o'clock, they both stopped their shifts to eat lunch.

The hubbub and sound of feet running here and there around them was all that they listened to for a few minutes before Finnick (as usual) broke the silence. "So," he said between bites as he chewed into his sandwich. "Do you always work on Saturdays?"

"Why do you want to know?" she asked. It was sort of silly to say it, but she'd kind of liked him more and more as the morning had progressed. He might be all jokes and "ha-ha-look-at-little-superior-me" when they were talking, but when he was working, the majority of that demeanor vanished, and it was replaced by a strange, intense look of concentration as he ran here and there, hauled things up, cast nets out, counted the fish supply they'd taken in. He did it all so seriously, too. So yes, she didn't think of him in such an irritating light anymore. It wasn't that it was all gone, the annoyance. But she did feel that given certain circumstances, Finnick Odair could actually be... pleasant.

He gave her a lazy smile. "Why do I want to know anything?"

"Right, I forgot it was because you're so curious about me," Annie said in reply.

Finnick laughed as he reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of some kind of pink juice, along with a bag of chips and a bundle of wrapped cookies. "You want some?" he gestured at his food.

_Yes. _"No," she blurted out. Juice and chips were a rare thing for most of the workers, and for Finnick to bring it here so casually as part of his lunch, as though he had them everyday - it indicated that either his family was well-off, or that someone else always sent things over. She could guess which one of the two it was. If she was correct, Finnick's family was probably a bit better off than hers. Not that her family used to do so badly.

No, her father used to be the one who was the best fisherman on the boats, who brought in the best haul. He was the one who'd brought her along, carried Annie on his shoulders so that she could see up high. "My little mermaid," he used to tease her fondly. He was the one who had taught her how to weave nets and make knots and certain methods for catching fish. But now, he was gone, and it was left to Annie to do the work and bring in the pay. Delphi and Parnassus couldn't work, not only because they were too young, but because Annie had been the only one who knew how to do it properly. Besides, her siblings were too interested in looking for their missing mother to be of much help.

Well-to-do families who could afford to give their kids bottles of strange juice and fancy cookies and large bags of chips for lunch everyday didn't bother sending their children to the fishing boats to work. No, that work was considered beneath them. Annie was guessing that Finnick's aunt Capet was the one who lavished them with the food, even though the family probably refused. Finnick's family probably sent him out to work, another source of income for them so that they wouldn't have to worry about life in general. Even if you had a Victor in your family, some people only let the Victor's generosity go so far. As far as Annie could tell, Capet had probably invited the family to go and live with her, but they had refused. What kind of life would that be? To be lazy and not know what it was like for others in your District? To some, it would probably seem like the best solution in the world. But to others, like Finnick's family, it probably seemed like a bit too much.

Okay, so she was probably thinking into this too far. But it never hurt to ask, did it?

"Oh, quit the act and just say you do want them," Finnick winked at her as he snatched Annie's sandwich from her hands.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly. "You can't go around stealing people's lunch!"

He ignored her as he opened the bag of chips and then undid the layers of her sandwich. His eyes were focused and intent, much like when he was working. Annie watched, perplexed, as he slid a handful of chips one-by-one into the sandwich before he handed it back to her, smiling. "Here. Try it."

She frowned. "Are you sure? It's your food, I don't want to-"

Finnick gave her an exasperated look. "And I'm the one sharing it, aren't I? Just try it, Annie."

That was true, what he was saying. So she bit into it, felt the crunching of several chips as she took in the new taste. "It's good," she replied honestly as she smiled at him.

"See?" he gave her a pointed look, but he was grinning.

"Is this the part where you say 'I told you so' in a very smug voice?" Annie asked her as she took another bite.

"Nah," he shook his head. "I think it's the part where I tell you that it shouldn't be so weird to you that I talk and eat at the same time, just like you do."

She let out a laugh. "You think I have a problem with you doing that?"

Finnick gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I could tell."

"What? By looking at me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, actually," he said. "I could see it in your face. You thought it was pretty disgusting, didn't you?"

"Well, you're a guy," Annie said dismissively. "So it doesn't really matter."

"Isn't that just so sexist of you," Finnick commented in a wry tone. When she opened her mouth to protest, he gave her a wink. "I'm kidding."

She shook her head. "You're strange."

"So are you," he countered.

Annie laughed. "Just to let you know, that isn't exactly a very witty response you have."

Finnick focused his eyes on her, as though he was trying to figure something out. The intensity of it all made her want to squirm, but as much as she wanted to, Annie didn't, instead holding her ground and drawing herself up in defense. "Let's play a game," he announced matter-of-factly as he uncapped his bottle of juice.

"A game?" she rose her eyebrows as she finished the last bits of her sandwich.

He twirled the white cap around in his finger before he took a few gulps from the bottle. "A bit of questions and answers," he replied.

"Why would I want to play that with you?" Annie asked. "And besides, it's not really a game, is it?" she pointed out. "It's more of show-and-tell, minus the show part."

Finnick shot her a lazy smile. "Fine. Never mind then."

Her eyes shot upwards. "Just like that?"

He nodded, and then changed the topic of conversation very suddenly. "It's a good day for swimming, isn't it?"

Annie couldn't help it when she laughed, but she didn't wipe the suspicious look off of her face. "Why do I get the feeling you're going to ask me to play this game with you again, and sometime soon?"

"Oh, is there another time involved now?" Finnick quirked his eyebrows as a slow grin spread across his face. "You really change your mind quickly, don't you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know, another time could also mean later today. Not some point in the distant future."

"True," he nodded before he outstretched the hand that held the bottle of juice. "Want some?"

"No-"

He held up a finger. "No lies."

Fine. "What flavor is it?" Annie asked.

"Peach and mango," he smiled at her.

"If you think this is going to make me want to answer your questions, you're wrong," Annie said.

Finnick rolled his eyes. "Not everything is about that, Annie. Just drink it if you want some."

She did, and a strange burst of flavors rushed into her mouth, sweet (but not too much so) and making her want more. "It's good," she said. "Thanks."

"You can have more, if you want," he said. "Aunt Capet always brings a lot of them over. I think we have a never ending supply."

So Annie drank some more, and when she finished her fill, she saw that Finnick was in the middle of unwrapping his stash of decorated cookies. "What are you doing?" she asked in a cautious voice.

He smiled at her as he held up a starfish-shaped cookie, complete with a white cream topping and orange sprinkles. "Want one?"


	5. Part V: Let Me Tell You A Little Story

A/N: I apologize for the late update! I just sat yesterday and couldn't type, it was a bad case of Writer's Block.

Thank you so much to everyone for their feedback on the last chapter! To xMoonlessx, number1bookworm, PeachyBookLover, RiverOtter1, SQUISHPIE, Annony, Hmmm, Elle, AWhiteBlankPage, (no name), and , thank you! Thank you so much, you guys! And for everyone who added this story to their favorites, put it on their story alert, or put me on their favorites and author alert: thank you! Thank you so much! Wow, you guys are so amazing! (:

Also! We're having a banner/header contest over at the finnick_annie comm at LJ! Check it out and enter! I'd love to see your guyses entries! (:

Anyhow, here is this chappie! I truly hope that you guys enjoy it! And, as usual, your feedback would be very appreciated and lovely! (:

Part V: Let Me Tell You A Little Story

_A Very Distant Past_

After they'd hastily finished the rest of their lunch, the two of them were back to working once more, Finnick running from one end of the boat to another as Annie helped cast out the nets and counted the inventory of the fish that they'd taken in. There was no time to stop for breaks, and the times that they did bump into each other, it was merely to discuss the length of a net or the different types of fish that had been caught.

Finally, the head fisherman called for all of them to stop their work and wrap up what they were doing. They were heading back to the dock now, and the last of the nets was hauled up onto the boat before the fish were dumped out and sorted.

"What do you think?" Finnick asked as he walked up to her twenty minutes later.

"We got a fairly good haul today," Annie replied from where she sat, not looking up from the net that she was busy checking to make sure that it was still securely knotted.

Finnick took his place beside her, drawing his knees up before he took another wet net from the pile. "So are you coming tomorrow?"

She laughed. "Even if I was, would I tell you?"

He smiled at that, already knowing her answer to his query. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then. Same time, same place?"

"You mean you plan on crashing into me on the street again?" Annie asked.

"If you want," he shrugged, still smiling. Then, "Do you want to go in Aunt Capet's car again?"

She rose her eyebrows. "Why? So that I can trust you and then you can find out whatever information it is about me that you want to know? No, thank you."

Finnick let out an amused laugh. "You don't have to be so paranoid."

"You can either take the first option or leave it," she replied. "Your choice, Odair."

His lips twisted into a smile as he looked out into the distance. "Oh, hey! Look, we're back!"

It was true. The wooden dock was getting more and more clear by the second, as were the other boats and people who were back from a long day of work.

"Do you want me to walk you back home?" Finnick asked rather abruptly.

Annie let out a sound between a snort and a laugh. "No, thank you."

"It'll be fun," he winked at her.

"I'm sorry to inform you this, but your charm doesn't work on me, Mr. Odair," she shook her head as she laughed.

"Maybe some other day, then?" Finnick winked.

"You're rather sure of yourself, aren't you?" Annie smiled.

"Of course I am," he said in a smug voice as he straightened puffed up with pride. "I'm Finnick Odair."

"Very funny," she noted. "And it's a nice try, but I'm still not giving you my last name."

Finnick let out a sigh that deflated his proud form. "Damn."

"Indeed," said a worker who passed by them. If Annie remembered correctly, his name was Selkirk, and he was usually the one who hauled the larger fish in. "Try harder next time, Finnick," he winked.

"Will do," Finnick winked back as Annie laughed.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Finnick woke to the sounds of hushed whispering, footsteps moving from here to there, and monitors beeping. He had gone to sleep with the blanket thrown over his face, but someone had come when he'd slept and moved it so that it no longer entirely covered him. He felt something in his hands. Rope. Well, that hadn't changed. They hadn't taken that away from him or placed it on the table. Probably because they either hadn't noticed it in his grasp or because they'd thought that it would be bad to take it out of his hands, especially since his grip on it was so tight.

He didn't move, simply stared at the empty wall beside him in the darkness of (what he guessed to be) the early morning. He should get up, he knew. Get up, walk around, or at least sit up and start putting his hands to work. Otherwise, his mind would start wandering, and he would think about the inevitable, wouldn't he?

So he began to think. He couldn't help it, not really. He thought about a time that seemed so long ago, when none of this had been on their minds. Annie was reading a book with him on their little boat. He was listening to her, one hand full of grapes clustered on a grapevine that he was slowly lowering into his mouth while the other rested beneath his head.

Annie was talking in an excited voice about the Old World and a somewhat brief summary of the ten-year siege known as the Trojan War. She'd frowned when she'd finished, and had asked Finnick if it was possible for him to get a more detailed version of the tale.

He'd said that he would try, but he already knew that he could get a copy. Anything showing war or the "brutal savagery" (as the Capitol liked to put it) of the Old World was generally available. They were there to show anyone who wondered that the Old World had been a place full of nothing but barbarism and that the Capitol was evidently much more clear-minded and stable.

Okay, so not everyone could get a copy. The books generally weren't passed around unless they were school curricula, and to get the whole text usually meant that you had to be a Victor or well-to-do, usually because there was such a hefty price charged for thick books in general.

But to Victors and the wealthy, the price was nothing, of course. If Annie wanted the book, Finnick would get it for her, simple as that. It wasn't as though she was asking him to do something out of the ordinary, like-

"Hi," said a quiet voice, interrupting his thoughts. "You're Finnick, right?"

Finnick sat up in his bed, and took in a girl with light-colored hair and blue eyes. He'd seen her before, (on television, mostly) and he frowned. "You're Katniss's little sister, aren't you? Prim?"

The girl gave him sad smile and a brief nod of her head. "Yeah."

He quirked his eyebrows. "So what are you doing here?" He didn't see a lot of thirteen-year-olds frequenting the intensive care unit or the hospital in general.

"I help out here," Prim said in reply.

Help. Help, help, help. Finnick thought of the corpses of his dead family, how their mouths had been open in silent horror, screaming at him to help them. But he was too late, much too late. Would it be too late to help Annie now? He just wanted her back. Please just let her come back to him. Please. "What?" he asked her.

"I help out here," she repeated "In the ward."

He only caught the last word. Wards. Hospitals. Medical centers. He didn't like them too much. He remembered Annie, screaming and crying as they'd lifted her out of the arena, how he had banged on the glass as she was being restrained by the Capitol doctors. He remembered every moment in vivid detail, could tell anyone who asked right now each tiny bit. Annie, struggling as they injected the syringe into her arm. Annie, begging him not to bring her to the hospital after the second time that she'd injured herself at home. The shiny lights, the prodding needles, the drugs they injected into her - everything about it made her cry and scream. So Finnick hated hospitals and medical wards as well, hated these places that used Annie as their little test experiment. "What did you say?" Finnick inquired as he looked at Prim.

A look flickered over her face, as though she was making a small note in her head about him. "I help out here," she said once more. "In the ward?"

"You do?" he asked as he took this into consideration. Well, that made sense, didn't it? "I see."

Her voice was defensive for a moment. "Don't laugh at me."

Finnick remembered Annie laughing, during all of those times that they had been happy and when she had began to heal and get better. Her laugh wasn't the annoying, high-pitched noise that he usually heard or the soft, gentle one that was just as common. No, her laugh was one that was loud and raw and unashamed - an honest laugh from an honest person. "What did you say?" he asked.

Prim tensed, as though he had just insulted her. "Don't laugh at me, okay?"

Oh. She probably took his need for her to repeat her last sentence as some sort of insult. Speaking of which, he'd stopped making knots, hadn't he? Stupid, stupid, stupid. "I wasn't going to," Finnick responded with a shrug of his shoulders as his fingers set to work once more. "I was going to say that it's nice."

Now she was the one who rose her eyebrows. "Nice?" She sounded like she didn't know whether to be amused or surprised by this.

"That you're doing what you want to," he gave another shrug. "I don't see how there's a problem with that."

Prim smiled at him, and her tone was grateful. "Thanks." Neither of them said anything for a long while, and then she noticed that his fingers were a fast blur that were busy making knots with the rope in his hand. "You know, you're not like they say you are."

"Yeah?" Finnick asked, his fingers yanking at the rope. "And what's that?"

"It's a bit like Katniss," she said matter-of-factly.

Katniss. He wondered whether she and Annie would get along. Probably. His girl of water and the Girl on Fire would probably - wait, what? Did Prim just say that he was like Katniss? "They think I'm like Katniss?"

"No, I do," Prim replied. "I mean, they think that, too, but - well, you two _are_ very alike, you know."

That was true, he supposed. They'd both lost someone that they loved, had had that someone taken from them by the Capitol, where they were probably being tortured. "How is she?" he heard himself ask. "Katniss?"

Prim laughed. "She's not being the Mockingjay that they want her to be."

Finnick began to untie the knots in the rope one by one. "So are you supposed to be my nurse? Or are you my new shrink?"

She shook her head. "Less like therapy and more like someone to talk to, if you want to put it in nice terms."

He let out a harsh laugh. "They actually think that it's going to work?"

Prim sat down on the side of the bed, not waiting for his invitation. "Talk to me. Tell me about Annie. Tell me anything."

"And why should I do that?" Finnick asked, smoothing out the rope as he finished undoing the last knot.

"Why shouldn't you?" Prim shrugged. "I'm not going to be like the other ones. I don't think you're crazy or just weird from the electric shock."

Finnick's fingers stopped working on the rope, and he frowned as his eyes took in her form. "So what _do _you think?"

"I think you're hurting and in love and feel useless," she said carefully. "So you should talk to me. Just let it all out."

His fingers resumed their usual swift speed as he began to knot the rope once more. "Okay, my little therapist." Finnick seemed to be lost in thought for a long while, and Prim said nothing, simply waited. He would speak when he wanted to. Finally, after about thirty minutes had passed, he opened his mouth to speak. "Have you ever been in love before, Prim?"

_A Distant Past_

They didn't stay for very long at the after-service. Finnick was too miserable and looked as though he might burst out yelling at someone any moment, so Annie nodded at Mags before she led him out and to the purple car that sat and waited patiently for them.

Finnick reached into the recesses of his coat pocket and pulled out a single key that was held on a ring, twirling it around absently in his finger before he let it come to a stop. He said nothing as he pressed the button and opened the door for Annie to get in. He slammed the door shut and walked over to the driver's side, but when he got into the car beside her, he didn't drive off. He simply leaned back into the warm leather of the seat, inhaling the scent of the car as he closed his eyes, letting himself see only the black that he felt inside of him.

"Do you want to stay here?" Annie asked in a soft voice.

Finnick didn't reply for a long while, simply inhaling the scent of the car and Annie and himself, not thinking about anything but the black that he let eat away at him. When his eyes finally fluttered back open, the sun was shining brightly on his face through the glass, and Annie was staring at him, a worried expression on her face.

Without a word, he turned the key and the car sprang to life. Where they headed wasn't the Victor's Village, however, but Finnick's old house, the one that he had grown up in and very rarely visited. He would have sold it, but his parents had insisted on keeping it, saying it was full of sentimental value. That was probably true, and why he was going there now. If he went, he could relive it. If he relived it, for a little while, he could imagine that they were there. His mother, washing dishes in the kitchen. His father, calmly explaining fishing concepts to Sesser after a long day of work. Pisca teasing him about Annie and asking if the two of them were girlfriend and boyfriend yet. Aunt Capet driving up in her shiny blue car and bringing them strange foods and supplies.

Finnick stopped the car and walked over to the other side to open the door for Annie, but she had already gotten out of the car and met him halfway, bumping into him. He took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together as they walked to the front door and turned the key in the lock.

Home. That was what it smelled like. Maybe it was just because he had a hard time processing that this was all happening, but he could somehow smell the seaweed soup his mother always liked to cook wafting to his nose from the kitchen.

They walked from room to room. It was a medium-sized house, by District 4 standards. Nowhere near as large and up to date as his house in the Victor's Village, but it didn't matter. The Capitol luxuries given to him might be nice, but what he missed more than anything was the little things that made this place home. The sofa in the living room that had a half-broken front left leg. The faded carpet on his parent's bedroom floor.

Finnick stopped when he saw the doodles on the wall of him and his sibling's bedroom that Sesser and Pisca had done. Swimming fish drawn in permanent marker that couldn't be washed off, much to their mother's exasperation. The drawing of their entire family in stick figure form, done by Pisca.

There were several more, but the one that Finnick remembered the most was one done by both Pisca and Sesser. 'Finnick + Annie!' was the caption scribbled below a heart that encircled a drawing: a stick-figure rendition of Finnick and Annie holding hands and smiling.

Finnick remembered the day that he'd come home from work and chanced upon it. Annie had sat in the kitchen and was immersed in conversation with Aunt Capet, so Finnick had gone ahead and went into the room he shared with his siblings, expecting it to be empty. Only, he'd found Sesser laughing and drawing something on the wall as Pisca giggled, "Do it, do it!"

"What are you guys doing?" he'd asked in a cautious voice.

"He's back!" Pisca's eyes had widened as she spun around to look at him, and Sesser seemed to go rigid with fear. "Well, don't stop!" She'd said in an authoritative voice, although she said it while laughing.

"He's going to kill me!" Sesser had exclaimed. "Pisca! I _told_ you that-"

"What is going on?" Finnick had laughed and shook his head in amusement as he walked towards them. "Come on, I'm not going to do anything, Sesser."

"See!" Pisca had resumed her laughing once again. "He's our brother, he won't really kill you!"

"Are you sure?" Sesser frowned, although he'd raised the marker once more so that it was hovering over the car. "I mean, he's going to get me!"

"Just do it!" Pisca had insisted.

Finnick had reached them and saw what exactly was drawn. "Sesser!" he exclaimed.

"I told you so!" His brother had hissed at Pisca.

Their sister didn't seem worried, though. No - instead, she had burst into another fit of giggles, this one so strong that she collapsed on the floor and was practically crying with mirth.

"Annie isn't my girlfriend, you guys." Finnick had shaken his head, but he was smiling, clearly amused.

"But you wish she was, right?" Sesser asked.

"What?" Finnick's eyebrows had shot up.

"I knew it!" Pisca was rolling around on the wooden floor, unable to control her laughs. "Finnick likes Annie!" she managed to get out in a sing-song voice.

"Of course I like her," he'd replied matter-of-factly. "She's my best friend, Pisca."

"You want to kiss her!" Sesser chorused, sing-songing it out. Apparently, he wasn't so afraid that Finnick would 'get him' anymore.

"Please," Finnick had rolled his eyes. "What are you two, five?"

Sesser joined Pisca's fit of laughter before he continued in that sing-song voice. "Finnick and Annie sitting on a boat!"

Pisca sung out the next line, "Are they kissing? Yes they are!"

Sesser had went on, "Then came the sea otter, who told them-"

"Oh, I'm going to get you two!" Finnick laughed as he dropped to the floor and began to simultaneously tickle them both.

"I told you!" Sesser shouted as Pisca started laughing even harder than she already was.

"What's going on here?" a curious voice asked from the doorway.

"Annie!" Pisca had shrieked as Finnick stopped tickling her. She got up and ran to the door, colliding into the older girl, hugging her. "You're here!"

"Of course I'm here, silly," Annie smiled fondly at her. "What was Finnick doing?"

"Tickling us!" Sesser shouted from the floor.

"Really? And why was he doing that?" Annie asked as Pisca took her hand and led her into the room.

"'Cause we were drawing this!" Sesser pointed at the wall, laughing.

Annie peered at the spot that they pointed excitedly at, and she shook her head. "You guys, we're not together."

"But you should be!" Pisca beamed up at her, as though she were very proud. "Don't you want to be our sister?"

"Of course I do," Annie had ruffled the younger girl's hair affectionately. "But in a way, I'm already your sister, aren't I?"

"Hmm," Pisca frowned. "But it doesn't count! Not if you're not Finnick's girlfriend!"

"Leave her alone, Pisca," Finnick had finally spoke. He had been busily gauging Annie's reaction the entire time, trying to see what she thought about all of this. From what he could see, she appeared slightly surprised and very much amused. The amusement, he got. But seeing as she had already known for a long time what Pisca and Sesser thought about the two of them, the surprise was a bit strange, wasn't it?

"It's okay, Finnick," Annie smiled at him as Pisca left her side to confer with Sesser. "Really."

He shrugged and opened his arms. "If you say so."

Sesser and Pisca were attempting to talk in hushed voices, but as usual, it failed. "You do it!" Sesser whispered loudly. "I did the stuff on the wall just now!"

"Fine!" Pisca whispered back as she snatched the marker from his hand and marched over to Finnick and Annie, who stared at this little girl in front of him who was very serious-like. "Ahem," she said, clearing her throat loudly. "Hold out your hands, please."

"Why?" Finnick asked, his voice full of suspicion.

"Just do it!" Sesser laughed. "Come on, it's funny!"

Finnick exchanged a look with Annie, who gave a shrug of her shoulders as she smiled. "Why not? It's not serious, is it?"

He nodded as he extended his arms. "Okay."

"No looking!" Pisca commanded in an authoritative tone as she scribbled on their arms. "There!"

They peered down, and saw that the words 'Annie Cresta is my girlfriend. I am Mr. Annie Cresta' were inscribed on Finnick's right arm, while Annie's left arm had the words 'Finnick Odair is my boyfriend. One day, I'm going to be Mrs. Finnick Odair.'

Finnick quirked his eyebrows while Annie laughed, and for the rest of the night, they never stopped getting questions from Aunt Capet and Finnick's parents.

Now, as he remembered that night, Finnick slid to his knees on the floor, let himself finally sob as he could not at the funeral, let himself cry and fall asleep, Annie holding onto him all the while.

_A Little While Ago_

Plutarch cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We debated whether we should tell you this or not, Annie, but I thought that it was best that we did, in the end."

"About what?" she asked in cautious voice.

"I know you just talked to Katniss, and she told you about how Finnick... about how he... how-" he stopped, as though the words were truly too much for him to say.

"About how he died," she whispered. "Yeah, I did that."

"We, ah, we-" he squirmed uncomfortably under he gaze. "We have the tapes."

"The tapes?" Annie frowned. "What are you talking about?" She did have a somewhat vague idea, though.

"Of all of it," he said in a rushed voice, and as he continued to speak, his words seemed to fly by in a hurry. "Not just Finnick's, even though he was the last one. We have everyone's. Right until the Holo exploded, that is."

"You have a video of their deaths? Of Finnick's death?" she managed to get out. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Annie," the former Head Gamekeeper gingerly put his hand on her shoulder as he reached his other hand into his suit pocket and pulled out a small stick. "I'm going to give you the tape, because I think that when the time comes, you might be able to watch it. Not as though it doesn't matter, but more of-"

"I understand," she said in a clipped tone as she took the stick he held and toyed with it. She didn't know whether she should be filled with rage and horror or just sadness and strangeness. "Thank you, Plutarch," she said slowly, as though she was thinking out each word. "Truly."

He gave her an uncomfortable smile. "I really am sorry, Annie. He was a good man, Finnick. He was a good, good man."

"He was," she whispered. "He was, wasn't he?"

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Annie didn't know how long she stood there, forced to watch Johanna scream and pound against the filled tank before her body contorted, unable to cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut. Annie didn't know whether she should be grateful that she wasn't the one inside the tank or disgusted that she was just standing here and being made to watch it all unfold.

When it was done and over with, the Peacekeepers threw the lid off of the tank and yanked Johanna out, shaking her and screaming in her face as she coughed out the water. "Tell us more!"

Johanna was laughing, as though she thought this was the funniest thing in the world. "I already told you everything."

This, Annie knew, was a lie. But she said nothing, didn't let her face or body show any reaction, because she knew that Dubont was watching her to see if there was an inkling of truth in what Johanna said.

The Peacekeepers threw her back in the tank, turning the hose back on and letting it overflow as they waited for another tank to come in, as they waited for Johanna to break and tell them what she knew. But Johanna said nothing, even as they brought in a much larger tank. She simply laughed when she got the water out of her mouth, kept on laughing and laughing, quite unable to stop.

Johanna, Annie saw, was going mad. Slowly, but very surely so. Annie remembered when she had first come back from the Games. She had screamed and cried, and then she laughed at things that were morbid or random or not funny at all. It was strange to most people, and often they looked disturbed, but one had to go through it or be there and watch to truly understand it.

Finnick had understood. But then again, he'd always understood, hadn't he?


	6. Part VI: Something I Can't Tell You

A/N: I'm really sorry I didn't update yesterday! I had the chapter done and was about to post it, and then I just fell asleep on the kitchen table. Sorry, guys!

And wow: you guys are all really, really amazing. Thank you so much for continuing to give me all of your feedback! It's amazing! (I can't think of anything competent to say right now, sorry) To: Icybookword, SQUISHPIE, redshade, RiverOtter1, Annony, AWhiteBlankPage, xMoonlessx, PeachyBookLover, Elle, and kitty32: wow! Thank you so much, you guys! Thank you, thank you! And, once more, to everyone who added this story to their alert and favorites or put me on their alert and favorites: thank you! That really does mean so much to me!

And to my lovely friends lemuresed (HELLO THERE HUN! :D) and jlauren1224 on LJ who are reading this: thank you, too, you guys! You guys are all so amazing! (:

Anyhow! Before I get too carried away, here is part six. I really do hope that you guys like it, and your feedback would be very lovely and awesome-sauce!

Part VI: Something I Can't Tell You

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Annie was shoved roughly back into the cell, the other prisoners cowering in fear as she came in, probably afraid that they would get picked next. A young boy who looked no more than eight years old was dragged out as his mother screamed and wailed. The boy didn't know anything. He couldn't possibly. No, the Peacekeepers were just going to have their fun with him, and then they would kill him. They'd probably make his mother watch, too. Annie shuddered, wondering when that time would come, wondering if she would be able to hear the wailing and shrieks even after she stuck her fingers inside her ears and tried to block the noises out, if she would still be able to see it even after she squeezed her eyes shut.

There was no talking among the prisoners, no friendship. To show kinship or acknowledgement for someone else would make both of you the next target for torturing, and no one was fool enough to risk themselves or their companions. Take the boy that had just been dragged out and his sobbing mother, for example. A few of the other prisoners had told them to separate, to act as though they didn't know each other, but the mother had refused to have her son go somewhere else in the cell. And now? Well, here they were. It was a warning, obviously. Those who were idiotical enough to fraternize with other prisoners would be punished, and then they would all die.

So instead, there was a blanket of silence in the cell, a silence in which they all listened to the screams coming from the people being tortured outside and in the other cells.

Annie wondered about Johanna, wondered when the other Victor would break. Eventually, probably. One day they would all break, and Johanna Mason was no exception. She might not reveal anything to the Peacekeepers, but she would break. She was already dying inside, already-

"Dinner's here," a quiet voice beside her announced.

Annie said nothing as she watched the others. Some of them sniffed at the plates hesitantly, others devoured the food handed to them, and a few, like Annie, didn't touch the plate that was placed in front of them. Sometimes, the Peacekeepers thought that it would be fun to watch the prisoners eat poisoned food and collapse, liked to watch as the eater contorted on the floor, their body moving with spasms as they died. Or sometimes, it was some kind of thing to make them all retch all over the prison floor, making the disgusting odor of the cell increase, the stink lingering for days and days afterwards. Sometimes, the food was drugged with some type of alcohol that made you more vulnerable and open, so that when asked a question by the Peacekeepers, you were more inclined to be honest. And sometimes, just sometimes, the food was simply food, and nothing more.

Annie looked at the plate that sat patiently in her lap. A strange pile of mush that was a depressingly grey color sat in the center looked up at her. Nothing else but a plastic spoon placed to the right decorated the plate. Just looking at it made Annie want to throw it to the other side of the cell, where another prisoner who was desperate enough was sure to pick it up and eat it. But usually the things that looked too gross to eat were the ones that were the safest.

Still, she didn't dare to touch the contents of the plate. She simply watched the others over the next two hours as they all listened to the screams of the little boy and the weeping of his mother. No one who had eaten the food looked like they were going to fall over onto the floor anytime soon, so Annie toyed with the spoon, making little circles in the mush with it.

The cell door clanged open, and as she'd guessed, the weeping mother was dragged out, sobbing and begging to see her boy. She was going to regret it, Annie knew. What kind of mother would be able to stand watching their child tortured and then killed before their very eyes?

The door slammed shut with a loud banging noise, and even though none of them had spoken before, a new sort of silence settled over the prisoners. They knew what was coming next, and it wasn't going to be pretty. But they were grateful that it wasn't happening in the cell, at least. This one mercy was given to them, although from the Peacekeepers's view, it was no mercy. It was simply their way of teaching the mother a lesson.

The screaming began again, and this time, so did the hysterical shrieking of the mother who had been taken out of the cell. Annie gripped her spoon tightly, so hard that it began to make a strange indentation on her hand. It was a terrible thing to listen to, and she was very glad that she wasn't sitting there and having to watch it all unfold.

She didn't dare eat her food yet. Not because she thought it was laced with poison, but because she knew that if she did, she would probably throw it all up. So instead, she placed the plate on the floor in the space in front of her and covered her ears with her hands, sticking her fingers inside as deeply as she could so that she wouldn't have to listen to the desperate cries of the boy and the mother's disregarded pleas for mercy.

Do not listen. Do not cry. Do not think about it. Think about something else. Play the alphabet game. Okay. Deep breath. Wait, what were you going to do again? Oh, that's right. The alphabet game, Annie. The alphabet game. How about things that you remember with Finnick? Those should be easy to remember, right? Okay. Just concentrate, Annie. Concentrate and it will all go away. _A is for apology. Remember all of those times that he said sorry to you and you didn't know why? B is for bait, because you know that's what you're being used as. If you weren't being used as that, they would have killed you already. C is for calling - remember all of those conversations on the phone? The late nights and the fun discussions and the strange times? Yes, you do remember those. D is for death, for everyone that was close to both of you, for those who died. E is for explanation, for all of those times that Finnick tried to tell you but couldn't. F is for Finnick. Finnick, the most beautiful person that you know. Finnick, who loves you even though he doesn't have to. Finnick, who chose you and just you. Finnick, who would give anything for you, and who you would give anything for. Finnick. Finnick. Finnick. When you-_

There was a loud, piercing scream and the noise of several gunshots that Annie's fingers couldn't block out, and she lowered her hands from her ears. That was it, then. The boy was dead, and the mother might be as well. No, not yet. They could hear her sobbing and shrieking, "Why?" over and over again. If she didn't shut her mouth, she was going to be next. Annie raised her hands to her ears once more, but it was a bit too late. Another round of gunshots, and then the screams stopped. Silence (minus the sounds of others being tortured in the distance, of course).

Annie drew up her knees before she picked up her plate and placed it on top of them. Then she dipped the plastic spoon into the mush, raising it to her mouth as she ate in silence.

_A Very Distant Past_

"Annie!" Delphi smiled as her sister came into the small kitchen. "How was work?"

"It was good," Annie returned the smile as she walked over to the counter and set down her bag. "Where's Parns?"

"He's still out," Delphi shrugged.

Annie stopped rummaging through her bag. "What? Delphi, how many times have I told you-"

Her little sister waved her hand. "He's okay, Annie! He knows these streets better than the both of us combined!"

Annie didn't find this very comforting. "I'm going to go look for him," she announced as she did her best not to let out a sigh. Her siblings might mean well, but they could be incredibly naïve, especially during times like this. It didn't matter how safe you thought you were, you didn't go wandering the streets of any District alone after hours.

"He'll be back soon," Delphi announced.

"Soon?" Annie shot her sister an incredulous look. "Delphi, how can you not be-"

As if on cue, the front door swung open before it was slammed shut. "I'm back, Delphi!"

"Parnassus Cresta!" Annie shouted angrily as she strode out of the kitchen. "How many times have I told you and your sister that you have to come back before the sun sets?"

"She's back already?" Parnassus shot a look at Delphi, who had followed her sister from the kitchen.

"She's back, Parns," Delphi nodded.

"Do you want me to go and talk to the authorities? To tell them what happened?" Annie snapped. "And don't think that I won't, because I will! With the rate you two are going at-"

"No!" Delphi and Parnassus chorused together, their eyes wide. "No, Annie, you know you can't!"

"Oh, really?" Annie asked. "And why is that?"

"They'll separate us!" Delphi wailed. "Annie, no!"

"I promise I won't stay out late anymore!" Parnassus ran to his sister before enveloping her in a tight hug. "I promise! Just please don't go to them, please!"

Well, that worked well, didn't it? "Let's go into the kitchen," Annie said softly as the anger began to evaporate from her, mussing her brother's hair and holding Delphi's hand. "Guess what I got for you guys today?" she asked as they both walked over to the counter with her. Parnassus took out three plates and set the bread and fish on them while Delphi gathered three cups and the utensils that they needed.

"More fish!" Parnassus beamed as he answered, his older sister's threat and anger now forgotten.

"It's always fish!" Delphi giggled as they all walked to the table.

"Wrong," Annie sing-songed as took the bag and set it down in the middle of the table. "Close your eyes."

"Ooh, it must be special!" Delphi beamed before she hastily put her fingers over her eyes. "I'm not peeking!"

"I am!" Parnassus laughed as he moved his fingers so that he could see what Annie was doing.

Annie gave her little brother an amused smile. "You're going to ruin the whole point of the surprise, Parns."

"Oh, fine." He let out a dramatic sigh before he covered his eyes again. "Happy now?"

"Very," Annie laughed before she carefully took the items out of the bag and placed them on the plates. "You can look now," she said as she uncapped the extra bottle of juice that Finnick had given her and began to pour it into their cups.

"What's this?" Delphi asked in a cautious voice as she poked her fork at the cookie.

"New food!" Parnassus exclaimed happily. "Wow!"

"Where'd you get them?" Delphi frowned.

"Eat first, and we'll talk later," Annie smiled at them.

"What kind of juice is this?" Parnassus asked as he took the bottle from his older sister and examined it.

"It's peach and mango, Parns," Annie replied.

"What about the cookies? Did you get them from the same place?" Delphi inquired as she bit into one. "They're good," she smiled happily before her sister could answer the question.

"You still have to eat the fish, you know," Annie said.

"Do we have to?" Parnassus made a face as he munched on the chips. "It's always the same thing."

"You can mix them with the chips, Parns." Annie poured some more out of the bag and onto his plate. "I put the chips in my sandwich for lunch, you know." Well, Finnick had put them inside, but it was a sort-of truth, wasn't it?

After they'd finished their sandwiches, broken the cookies into little pieces, and drained the bottle of every last bit of juice, Parnassus leaned forward. "So, where did you say you got the food?"

"Do you guys know someone named Finnick Odair?" Annie asked.

"Finnick Odair..." Delphi frowned as her eyebrows furrowed in concentration and she exchanged a glance with Parnassus, her eyes lighting up in delight. "Oh, I know who you're talking about!"

Annie recapped the bottle of juice. "Who is he?"

"Do you remember Pisca?" Delphi asked.

"Who?" Annie frowned.

"That girl she always used to play with," Parnassus answered. "The nice one from the snobby school."

It took Annie a moment to place Pisca, but when she finally did, it all made sense. She was the little girl who had almost the same color eyes as Finnick, and she used to come over and play with Delphi. That is, before their father had died. Pisca Odair. Annie remembered her now. Always laughing and drawing things wherever she could, especially on the boy that used to come over with her - Sesser Odair. Her brother. He was the one with the bronze hair that was just like Finnick's. "Oh," Annie said, feeling incredibly stupid. How did she not realize this before? Those two siblings were hard to miss, and not because they were both incredibly tall and beautiful for their age. No, it was because they were always running around and laughing, so full of life and happiness.

"Finnick's their brother," Delphi said. "Have you met him before?"

"Did he ever come around?" Annie asked.

"A couple of times, I think. But not very often." Parnassus frowned in thought. "Once or twice - definitely not enough to remember us. I think you were always at work with dad then."

"I see," Annie nodded.

"Oh, did _he _give you this stuff?" Delphi's eyes widened. "Wow, he's so nice!"

"Are you working with him?" Parnassus asked.

"Sort of," Annie said in response.

"Why don't you ever invite Pisca and Sesser over anymore?" Parnassus frowned as he turned to Delphi. "They were a lot of fun, you know."

Delphi shot him a look. "You know why."

He thumped his fork against his mouth as the lines of his face furrowed in concentration. It took him about ten seconds to realize what she was talking about. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh, I remember now."

"Don't forget it, Parns," Delphi gritted out angrily. "_Never _invite _anyone_ over, okay?"

Parnassus bobbed his head up and down so quickly that it was making Annie slightly dizzy. "He understands, Delphi," she said, reaching both of her hands out and squeezing her siblings's hands. "We all do, right?"

"Right," they nodded.

"If anyone finds out, we'll be separated," Annie said, her voice lowering with each word. "Don't tell anyone. Don't invite anyone over. Don't forget."

They inclined their heads, because they knew. No one could find out. For now, they would wait for their mother to come home, something that Annie had long ago lost hope in. Delphi and Parnassus held on, though, thinking that she would show up. Like she would just magically pop up in the front door and all would be forgiven.

Their mother wasn't going to ever come back. And if they went to the Peacekeepers and reported it, the three of them would be separated, put into one the orphanages or sent to homes that they didn't want to be in. It wasn't like the Peacekeepers might not be eavesdropping on their house right now. It was an unlikely event, but it could be happening. The thing was, though, that they lived in one of the poorer parts of District 4. Nothing interesting to listen to here. Besides, the Peacekeepers didn't care, so long as it wasn't reported to them.

Annie, Delphi, and Parnassus - they were family, and right now, that was all that each of them had left. They weren't going to give that up. So they would endure. They would wait the years out, and they would be together, as all families like theirs should.

_Those Weeks of You & Me _

"No," Prim said honestly. "No, I haven't."

"But you've had crushes, haven't you?" Finnick said it as more of a statement than a question.

She nodded, getting what direction he was going in. "Yes."

"What does it feel like, when you have a crush?" He asked in a soft voice, almost like a caress. "Tell me."

Prim placed the palm of her hand over her chin. "You can't stop thinking about them. You smile every time they're around or when their name is mentioned."

"Love is the same, and it's also different," Finnick said. "When you're in love, you-" he broke off, yanking both ends of the rope as he did so. "Love gives you both. You can have everything, and you can lose everything as well."

"Why?" she asked, needing him to let it all out. _Keep him talking, Prim. _

"Have you ever had something forbidden, Prim? Have you had something right in front of you that you wanted very badly? Have you ached for it and let it eat away at you?"

Not the sort of intensity that he was talking about, no. "No," Prim replied.

"Love's like that. Gods, I wanted her so much. But if I had her, she'd be in even more danger than she already was. They could use her against me, and then I'd be forced to do whatever they wanted so that they wouldn't touch her." Finnick paused for a moment, as though he was thinking something through. "I was selfish, Prim. I was selfish, and I needed her, and I just couldn't let her go and let her be safe. I've done a lot of bad things, Prim. And one of the things that I-"

"So do you regret loving her?" she asked.

He looked slightly taken aback. "No. Gods, no. But-" Finnick bit his lower lip as he tugged on the rope, "If I hadn't let her love me, then maybe she wouldn't be a prisoner right now."

"And maybe she'd be dead," Prim said in a soft voice. "Finnick, have you ever thought that maybe you loving her is the reason that they're keeping her alive?"

"Yes," he whispered as he made a knot in the rope. "You know, I told your sister that I wished Annie was dead."

"When?" Prim frowned.

"On the hovercraft," Finnick replied. "Dead is better than what they might be doing to her. What they _are _doing to her."

"Maybe," Prim said. "But Finnick, if-"

"That's how the Capitol plays with you," Finnick's voice was hard and weary, as though he had lived through too much. "They use the people that you love, and then they try to break you with those you love if you disobey them. Do you get what I'm saying, Prim?"

"I do," she nodded.

"Loving Annie is the best thing I've ever done, the bright star of my life. But it's also been a curse, because it's been used against me - and more importantly, against her. As long as I love her, she'll never be safe." Finnick began to undo the knots, not once stopping the swift pace that he was going at as he spoke. "When you're in love and the two of you are together, you're on the top of the world. Nothing can touch you. But if that person isn't safe, if their life is in danger - and if you know that it's because of you - that's the worst thing, Prim. Your biggest strength is also your biggest weakness, and it'll break you, Prim. It's going to break you, in the end."

_A Very Distant Past_

Annie walked out of the house and had just turned down a couple of streets when she recognized a familiar figure in the distance that was leaning lazily against a post. "Finnick?" She couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. "What're you doing here?"

He laughed as he walked towards her. "I thought you agreed that we were going to meet in the same place?"

"I didn't think you were actually going to show up," Annie said honestly. Then, before she could help it, she blurted, "I figured it out."

Finnick shot her a quizzical look. "Figured what out, exactly?"

"Why you look so familiar," she replied as they walked down the alley together.

"And I know who _you_ are, Annie Cresta," he said matter-of-factly.

She blinked. "What?" How had he figured out her name? Parns had said that Finnick had come over a maximum amount of two times. But Finnick observed people, and if he watched them as closely as he said he did, then it shouldn't have been too hard for him to put two and two together.

"It took me a while to figure it out, but you're Delphi Cresta's older sister, aren't you?" He smiled, as if he was very happy that he had discovered this. "My sister used to go over to your house and they played together." He frowned now. "But then it stopped a couple of months ago, and they only ever talk at school."

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Annie sighed.

"My sister's lost her favorite playmate," he shrugged. "Why shouldn't I make that my business?"

She rolled her eyes. "Is your only purpose in life to annoy other people?"

Finnick let out a laugh. "You don't have to be so defensive, Annie."

_Yeah, I do. _"With you, I do," she said. "Who knows what strange type of-"

He cut her off rather abruptly. "Is your family doing okay?"

Annie blinked and stopped walking, caught in surprise at the sudden interruption. "What?"

He went on. "Your father passed away, didn't he?" Finnick's sea green eyes peered into hers, intent on finding an answer that she wouldn't give him."Is that why Delphi won't talk to Pisca outside of school anymore?"

"That's none of your business," Annie snapped at him, suddenly angry. If he knew this, then sooner or later, he would figure out what was going on. Shoot. She couldn't afford to have that happen, not right now.

Finnick opened his mouth to say something, and then he closed it once more. When he finally did speak again, he avoided the topic. "So, do you think we'll get as much fish as we did yesterday?"

Annie didn't answer him, still angry as her mind frantically raced. So they walked to the dock in (for the most part) silence, Annie not saying anything as Finnick asked her question after question until finally, he ran out of options and fell silent.

_Present Day_

"We always met up on the same street. He was always there, every summer morning, always leaning against the post. Always waiting. And every day, he would ask the same questions: 'Are you okay?' and 'How's your family doing?'. Aftewards, he'd tell me that Pisca and Sesser said hi to Delphi and Parns. I'd never say anything, and he'd talk about other topics. But it always lingered over us, and he never stopped asking. Finnick could've asked Aunt Capet to find out more about me if he wanted, but he didn't. He respected my privacy, because he knew that I'd never forgive him if he intruded without me wanting him to."

_A Distant Past_

When he woke up, Finnick saw that a blanket had placed over him and that a pillow was tucked snugly under his head. Annie.

He wanted to tell her the real truth of what had happened. But she was clever, and perhaps she'd figure it out. If he could just-

The sound of footsteps approaching made him jerk out from his place on the floor, and he was about to throw the blanket off of him when he saw Annie enter the room, two steaming cups of tea in her hand. They smelled of mint, a strong smell that seemed to make him more alert. "You're awake," she said in a soft voice.

"Yeah," Finnick replied as he stood up. "I am."

"You should sit down," she said. "You need to sleep."

He let out a harsh laugh, but he settled on his old bed. "I think I've slept long enough, Annie. How long was I out for?"

"Only three hours," Annie took her place beside him and handed him a cup, which he took gratefully. "You need some more sleep, Finnick."

"Annie, listen. You don't have to do this, you know. I-"

"Finnick, you're my best friend," she said in a determined voice. "And it's not about me having to do this out of obligation, it's because I'm here for you, okay? I'll always be here when you need me."

He gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Annie asked as he took a slow sip from his cup. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Oh, yes he did. He had five deaths on his shoulders. He had no family now, no family left but Annie and Mags. They were all that he had in this world, and he would do anything that he could to protect them. "Everything is my fault. Mine."

She didn't say the usual response that other people gave of 'No!' or 'You don't know what you're talking about.' Instead, she frowned. "Why?"

Well, he couldn't exactly tell her the truth, could he now? "If I hadn't gone to the Capitol for this year's Games, nothing would have happened. They would all be safe."

Annie placed her free hand in his before setting down her cup of tea on the floor. "You shouldn't blame yourself, Finnick. Those robbers would have come even if you hadn't gone." When she said the word _robbers_, Finnick could tell by the emphasis on that particular word that she meant the Peacekeepers or Capitol thugs. But even here, in his old, abandoned, dilapidated house, they weren't safe.

She was wrong. Those Peacekeepers wouldn't have come and killed his family if he had just agreed to letting Snow prostitute him out. He would always have to live with that - that because of his defiance, his family had died. "Fine," he said.

Annie rose her eyebrows. She understood, then, that what he meant by this was that there was more to the story than he was telling her or that he was able to tell her. She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry."

Finnick dropped his cup of tea, not caring about the tea that spilled across the floor. He didn't take his eyes off of her, and it seemed to take an eternity, but he moved towards her, placing a trembling hand on her cheek. "How can you stand me?" he whispered as his cool fingers traced the outline of her face.

Annie shivered visibly. "Why wouldn't I?"

That was all he really needed to hear, all the affirmation that he needed before he closed the space between them and felt her mouth open up to him. She tasted like the mint tea that they had been drinking, and also of sugar cubes and ocean water. His lips were soft on hers, slow. He took his time, wanting to taste every inch of her mouth with his tongue, wanting to feel her lips against his. Wanting. It was filling him up, making him go insane, and Annie - she was the only one that he wanted. There was a feeling spreading from his lips to the tips of his fingers and the bottom of his toes, that went to the ends of his bronze hair.

He had thought that perhaps doing this would disgust him, after the taste of the Capitol women and their disgusting lipstick smeared all over his face and their tongues thrusting inside his mouth and tasting him all over his body. But kissing Annie wasn't scary. It didn't make him want to run away screaming or make him repulsed or make him shudder in disgust. No, for some strange reason, kissing her only made him want more, made him greedy for it. Was it because the taste of her lips was unlike any that he had ever known? Because she understood him better than anyone else? Because she was Annie, and he had been in love with her since he was fourteen? Or was it all of those reasons? The more that he kissed her, the more the memories of those Capitol women washed away, like a tide over sand.

"It's okay, Finnick," she said when they finally drew back to take a breath, both of them breathing heavily.

"What?" he breathed out unsteadily as he raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't have to justify what you did in the Capitol," she said. "Those women - they made you feel something. Your family was just killed, and I don't hold that against you. And I know you probably feel some sense of guilt and obligation to me since you promised me something you don't want to deliver anymore. But it's okay. I don't want you kissing me just because you feel like you owe me something-"

Was this what she really thought of him? That the women in the Capitol were his way of feeling something? Finnick let out a harsh, sad, bitter laugh. She didn't know the real reason, hadn't even gotten a close guess. He had been about to tell her (or try to, in code) about what was really going on. But if this was what she thought - no, he couldn't tell her.

Her words washed over him, and he couldn't help it when he thought about the Capitol women who hovered over him, wanting and demanding and consuming him. Finnick could practically feel them reaching for him, making demands of him, violating him, and it was too much.

He stood up quickly, not wanting to be in the same room as Annie anymore. He needed to get out of this house, and now. "You really don't get me at all," Finnick whispered, and then he ran out of the room.


	7. Part VII: I Hate The Truth

A/N: Hi, everyone! I hope you guys had a great Labor Day weekend! There was no update for the past couple of days for that reason, since I was mostly just having fun, but we're back now! (:

And wow, you guys! Thank you for reading this story and for continuing to give me your feedback and supporting it. It's amazing, you guys, really. For all of the people who gave me feedback: SQUISHPIE, Anonny, PeachyBookLover, xMoonlessx, Beth, Elle, Obiwanlivesforever, RiverOtter1, and riko: thank you! You guys are amazing! And to my new readers who added this to their favorites and alerts, or put me on their favorites and alerts: thank you! Thank you so much!

Also, come join us over at the gale_johanna community at LJ! We've just gotten set up, so it's a bit empty right now.

This chapter is for my fellow mods over at ontd_thg, who make life so much funnier: Gabby (bozothemoose) and Erin (lemuresed). Join us there as well! We talk lol-zey stuff about _The Hunger Games _and random things all day long. (;

Anyhow! Sorry for blabbing! On to the story now. (: Enjoy, you guys!

Part VII: I Hate The Truth

_A Distant Past_

In his haste to get out of the room, Finnick managed to knock over the cup of mint tea that he had dropped earlier, sending it flying to the other side of the room. He didn't care, though. He probably didn't even notice that he'd done it.

Annie ran after him, bursting out of the bedroom at the same time that the front door was thrown open. But Finnick wasn't driving off in his car as quickly as he could. No - he ran, because that was what he always did.

By the time that Annie reached the front door, which Finnick hadn't bothered to slam shut behind him, he was long gone. Still, she had a pretty good idea where he was headed, and after hurriedly closing the door behind her, she let her legs bring her to the lake. It was a long way there, but she wasn't some random wuss who was going to feel sorry for herself and go on all day about how she had to run around. No, she wasn't that type of stupid, simpering girl.

Annie ran down the street, past the various shops and dashing through a shortcut that they didn't often take, running and running until she found herself in the copse of trees, running until she saw that she was close to the lake. She could tell by the chirping of the birds, the soft running of the water, the smell of pine and-

There he was. Standing on the wooden dock, looking at the water as though it was endless and depthless. "Finnick!" Annie shouted as she ran to him.

He didn't turn around, but he knew that she was there. When she reached him, winded and out of breath, he asked her, "What would happen if I jumped, Annie?"

She blinked as she drew herself up, not quite sure of what she was hearing. "What?"

"Would anyone care?" he asked. "You'll mourn me, and Mags will cry, and those Capitol people and screaming fangirls will cry, but you'll all forget about me one day."

He was scaring her, the way that he was talking. Finnick never, ever talked like this - that flat, dead tone that held no emotion. "I'll care," Annie replied. "You know I will. Do you want to leave me and Mags behind? What do you think we're going to do without you, Finnick?"

"It'll hurt you, if I'm gone," he went on.

"Yes," Annie said. "Yes, it would. How can you not know that?"

"You'll mourn me, but you'll be safe," Finnick continued. "Both of you will be safe. They can't hurt you if I'm not here."

"Who?" Annie asked. "Tell me who, Finnick."

"But if I'm alive, you'll only be safe if I do what they say. And if I do anything-" he broke off, as though he didn't know what to say next. Finally, "If I step out of line, they'll hurt you. Both of you." Finnick turned to her now, a tortured expression on his face. "I could never live with that, Annie. It would be too much to bear. It's already too much to have on my shoulders."

"Finnick." Her voice was firm, although she had no idea what she was doing. Her thoughts were racing as she tried to figure this all out. Obviously, something was going on. But what? _Think, Annie. _She could figure this out. She had to.

He closed his eyes, and his face shuttered. "If I jump-"

"Fine!" Annie shouted suddenly, so tired of this all. "Fine, if that's what you want!"

Finnick let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a strangled noise of confusion. "What?" He asked as he turned around and walked towards her.

"You want to jump into a lake that's not deep enough to kill anyone who knows how to swim?" Annie snapped. "Fine! You want to leave me and Mags behind? Fine! Jump if you want!" She was shouting now, but she didn't seem to notice. "Life sucks, Finnick, and it's going to suck even more if you decide to leave us, but if that's what you want, then do it!" _Please let this work. Please, please, please. _It might be half-plan, half-pent-up anger, but it was all that she could think of at the moment. Whether he blew up at her or did something else was going to happen because of what she was saying.

"Annie," he began. They were only inches apart now.

"Don't 'Annie' me!" she shouted as she put her hands against his chest and began to push his still form towards the water. "What are you waiting for? Jump in already!"

Finnick held onto her wrists, his fingers holding onto her in a tight grip, firm and shackling. "No," he said in a low, defeated voice. "No." His voice had risen on the last word.

"Jump!" Annie practically shrieked as she struggled, pounding her fists against his chest. She had stopped moving forwards, mostly because he had stopped letting her push him backwards. "If you hate life so much, just jump! If we really mean such an inconsequential amount to you, jump! What the hell are you waiting for, Finnick Odair? Jump!"

She was still struggling against him when Finnick jerked her to him, his arms enveloping her even as she continued to pound her fists on his chest. "I can't do it," he murmured into her beautiful hair, resting his nose inside the brown tendrils that he always wanted to run his fingers through. "I can't."

Annie continued to pound her fists against his chest for a few seconds before she realized what he had said. "What?" she murmured into his suit. "What did you say?"

"I can't do it," Finnick repeated. To his surprise, her body began to shake with sobs for about ten seconds before they stopped. "Annie?" he asked carefully. "Are you crying?"

"It's all your fault!" she mumbled into his chest. "You know I hate crying, even when it's appropriate." That was true. Crying was such a sign of weakness, especially in a Victor District.

Then the wetness began to leak onto his suit as Annie started crying again, an embarrassing round of sobs that seemed to go on and on. They stood there, Finnick's arms wrapped around her, his nose nestled in her hair, his fingers making little circles on her back as she wept into his chest. She cried for the five deaths that were too early, for Finnick's strange behavior that he wanted to explain to her but obviously couldn't, for the deaths of her own family, for everything hard and trying that had happened in the last few years, crying as he murmured, "Forgive me," over and over again into her hair.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

When Finnick woke up, it was lunchtime. He could tell by the fact that a tray with some brownish-grey soup with a few vegetables sticking out, one loaf of bread, a cup of milk, a napkin, and some utensils sat on the table next to him.

"You're awake," said a familiar voice that sat on the end of his bed.

"Prim?" he frowned as he sat up and gazed at her. "What're you still doing here?"

"I'm your little therapist, remember?" she smiled at him before she gestured at the tray. "Are you going to eat that?"

"Why?" he rose his eyebrows. "Do you want some?"

Prim laughed. "Thanks, but no thank you."

"What time is it?" Finnick asked.

"14:37," she answered promptly. "You've been asleep for about eight hours."

He quirked his eyebrows. "You haven't been sitting here the whole time, have you?" When she didn't respond, his eyebrows shot up even higher. "Dear Panem, you really have?"

Prim sighed. "Well, I watched you for the first two hours, and then I went and did other stuff. But I came back about an hour ago."

"What, do you have to fill out charts about me?"

"Charts?" She rose her eyebrows.

Finnick shrugged as he pressed a button on the side of the bed that made a tray-holder shoot out. "Stuff like" - here he began to speak in a high-pitched tone - "'Today Finnick slept for more than eight hours. Then he ate cheese for breakfast. Finnick played with his rope. Afterwards, he talked about Annie. Observation number two hundred forty-five: Finnick likes to eat sugar cubes. Sometimes he eats pudding, too. When-"

"Are you actually trying to be funny?" Prim cut him off.

He gave another shrug of his shoulders. "Why don't you tell me, my insightful little therapist?"

She furrowed her brows as she frowned. "You really want to know what my observations are?"

Finnick moved the tray onto the holder and began to pick at the vegetables in his soup with his spoon. "Why not?"

"You talk in your sleep," Prim began. "You ask for forgiveness." No response from Finnick, simply him sifting the vegetables around in his soup. So she went on, "You always want to punish yourself." A pause, and then, "You talk about killing yourself."

He blew at the soup, even though it was already cold. "That makes sense," Finnick inclined his head.

"I don't think you should blame yourself," Prim said carefully.

Finnick rose his eyebrows as he took the loaf of bread in his hands and began to rip it into thin, precise strips. "Oh? And why's that? Because you think none of it is my fault?"

"No," she shook her fault. "See, everyone is going to come and tell you that it isn't your fault. But I think that part of it _is _your fault. It's your fault and Annie's fault and the Capitol's fault and the world's fault. Life's never perfect, Finnick. If you hadn't fallen in love with Annie and she hadn't fallen in love with you, you wouldn't be here. If the Capitol didn't exist, maybe you both would be happy right now. But don't you see, that's not how the world works!" She was shouting now, probably attracting the attention of the other staff, but she didn't seem to care. "Life doesn't go the way you want! The people you love are forced to do things they don't want to and end up becoming inhuman! Your goats and cats die and you don't!"

Silence. Finnick stopped ripping the bread in his hands. Then, "Are you quite finished?"

Prim glared at him. "You're horrible, Finnick Odair. Did you know that?"

_A Very Distant Past_

It was the end of the first day of school after a long summer of working. It had turned into a ritual - every day, Finnick waited for her by the post. He knew where exactly her house was - but he respected her privacy in that aspect, and never walked over to wait for her. For that, Annie was grateful. Still, Finnick always asked the same questions as they walked to the wooden dock, always laughed with her and made conversation as they weaved nets. Working, working, working. Running here and there, casting out nets, helping to haul in the catch, counting the fish and sorting them.

Lunch would come around, and they'd sit down together. Finnick always gave Annie some new delicacies that she'd only ever seen Victors or the wealthy taste, and she would have refused, but she knew that Delphi and Parns found the food and drinks exciting, so she always took the bundle that he offered her. Who was she to not give her siblings some small bit of happiness, even if it only was a cookie or a chocolate-dipped fruit? That was the thing, though. White cookies with the shape of sea otters and blue sprinkles seemed to make Delphi cry out in delight, and Parns was always smiling whenever he ate a strawberry that had been dipped in chocolate. So even though it was only food to Annie, it meant so much more to her younger siblings - like the food held some sort of magic. In this aspect, Annie was grateful to Finnick. (Not that she'd ever tell him, of course.) He'd been able to bring something to her family that Delphi and Parns could look forward to everyday, days that were filled with fruitless searching for their mother.

Annie didn't know why she was so upset that school was starting. Minus the fact that it would mean less income (still, Annie knew that they would get by) since she would only be working full days on the weekends now, it was that - could it be possible? That she'd actually gotten so used to Finnick Odair being such an annoying fixture in her life? That she would miss seeing him every day, miss the way that his face lit up in a smile when he saw her approaching him as she walked casually down the street? No, she couldn't miss him. She just missed him because he wouldn't be giving her the daily food that she could give to Delphi and Parns. Yes, that was it.

She waited for her siblings in the front of the school, wondering what exactly-

"Annie!" Delphi beamed as she came out of nowhere, her huge backpack bouncing against her back as she practically skipped up to her sister.

"Hey," Annie laughed. "What're you so excited about?"

"I got to meet a lot of new people today!" Delphi told her in a happy voice.

"You're not upset that we had to drop you out of your old school?" Annie asked in a worried voice. "I know you miss your old friends-"

"A little bit," Delphi admitted truthfully. "But it's okay, Annie! A whole bunch of them were snobs anyway, and the only person I really liked there was Pisca."

"You're sure?" Annie frowned. "Because if you want to go back, I can try and see what extra work hours I can get for-"

"No!" Delphi shouted a little too loudly, making some of the passerby turn around and stare at them. "We could never afford it now, Annie," she shook her head. "We could barely afford it when daddy was alive, and I'm not going to ask you to send me to a school where people are going to laugh at me all day for being the poor kid."

"Is that what they called you?" Annie asked, anger filling her. Stupid Victors and rich kids. They really had no idea what life was like for the rest of them. Well, the former Victors did. But they'd probably forgotten all of that now.

"Sometimes," Delphi shrugged, as though it hadn't mattered to her. But Annie could tell that it had really hurt her little sister. "But Pisca told her older brother."

"Which one?" Annie inquired. "Finnick?"

Delphi nodded her head, "I told her it wasn't a big deal, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. So then he told them to knock it off."

"And they stopped? Just like that?" Annie rose her eyebrows.

Delphi gave her a strange smile. "He can be very persuasive, you know."

"Did he beat them up?" Annie asked, somehow able to visualize this in her mind's eyes. She could see Finnick casting his net over someone and then beating them to a bloody pulp afterwards. It was weird, and she probably shouldn't be thinking things like this at her age, but for some reason, she could just see it.

"Well, it was mostly the girls who did it," Delphi shrugged. "Most of the boys could really care less, so Finnick just told the girl who started it that-" It was at this moment that Parns reached them, cutting off whatever Delphi had been about to say as she launched herself at her brother. "Parns!" she squealed happily. "Hi!"

Their brother looked slightly alarmed as he drew back. "What's wrong with you, Delphi?"

"Nothing!" she sing-songed. "I'm just so happy!"

Annie shook her head as she laughed. "Come on, you guys. I have to get you back home."

"Can we go looking for mommy?" Parns asked.

"No!" She didn't mean for it to come out as a shout or in such a mean voice, but it did.

Her little brother flinched. "Sorry."

Annie knelt down so that she was level with her brother. "Listen to me, Parns. You can look for her all weekend long, if you want. But school's important too, and if your work starts lagging, they're going to call you in and want to talk to mom. And what do you think is going to happen when she doesn't show up?"

"But I'll study really hard!" Parns pitched his voice so that it was a low whine. "Please, Annie!"

She sighed. It would be so easy just to say yes, wouldn't it? But she couldn't give in right now. She just couldn't. "Parns, I-"

"It's not an option, Parns," Delphi cut in, shooting her brother a serious look. Even though she prioritized finding their mother, she knew when they had to stop. Parns was the only one who didn't seem to know how to. Maybe it was because he was the youngest, or because their mother had doted on him the most, or because he desperately wanted to believe that they would find her, or a combination of all of those reasons. Whatever it was, he seemed thoroughly convinced that they shouldn't stop, no matter what, and he always seemed to forget that if he did so, they would eventually be found out.

Parns had a huge pout on his face as he hung his head. "Okay."

"You listen to me, Parnassus Cresta," Delphi began in a bossy tone. "I don't get why you can't seem to-"

Annie held up a hand and shook her head at Delphi before she turned back to Parns. "You remember your promise? That we wouldn't say anything? That we wouldn't do anything?"

Her little brother nodded wordlessly. "Yeah," he said after a few moments of silence.

"Do you want us to be separated, Parns?" Annie asked.

"No," he replied in a quiet voice.

Annie tried to make her voice as careful and kind as possible. "Because if you do stuff like this, we're going to be. Separated, that is. You don't want to be separated, do you?"

Parns looked up, shaking his head vigorously. "No!"

"Then you can't go looking for her on school days, okay? Just do your homework and I'll be back soon." Annie took his hand in hers.

"Then how come you get to go to work?" Parns frowned. "Shouldn't you stay at home and do your homework with us?"

"Think, Parns," Delphi rolled her eyes. "Who's putting food on the table and getting our clothes and school supplies now that daddy's gone and mom is missing?"

"Annie is," he answered.

"Exactly," Delphi said. "And what do you think is going to happen if she just stops working on the weekdays?"

"We won't have any money," Parns frowned. "But how are you going to get your homework done, Annie?"

"Like I always do," Annie smiled reassuringly at him. "I'll do it at work, okay?

"Okay," Parns replied, obviously not fully convinced by this response.

"Can we go home now?" Delphi asked. "I have a lot of homework." The latter was most likely a lie, but Annie knew that her sister had said it to alleviate the strange tension that had settled in the air.

"Alright," Annie nodded, shooting her sister a grateful look as the three of them began to walk away from the school.

_A Little While Ago_

Plutarch gave Annie's shoulder a squeeze that he thought was appropriate, and then he cleared his throat as he shuffled his feet nervously, obviously not knowing how to proceed from here. When she said nothing to him, he gave her an unsure smile. "Well, I guess I'll see you in a bit, Annie," he nodded. Then, without another word, he walked away.

Annie stood there, playing with the stick in her fingers, wondering if she should let it fall to the floor and crush it with her shoes or if she should pocket it and let it be a heavy burden.

"What did he want?" Johanna asked, a frown of disapproval on her face as she approached the other young woman.

Annie rose her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you weren't eavesdropping."

Johanna let out a tired laugh. "That I was. But I don't think I caught all of it. Plutarch always-"

"He gave me the tape," Annie said suddenly.

"The tape?" Johanna's frown deepened as she looked at the stick that the other Victor held. "Of what? Of Finnick?"

"Of his death," Annie swallowed. "His and the others."

"_What?_" Johanna's voice rose an octave or two, and the incredulity was evident on her face. "Is he crazy?"

"I think he feels bad," Annie let out a breath. "Like if he gives me the tape he'll somehow be justified for whatever wrong he think he did."

"That's messed up," Johanna shook her head. "I don't know what the problem is with Capitol people, but they never seem to learn."

"It probably isn't to him," Annie said. "A problem, I mean."

"Why are you defending him?" Johanna scowled. "He's almost as bad as the rest of them."

"It's not _defense_," Annie frowned. "I can't justify anything that he's done. It's more like-"

"... like it, obviously," Enobaria said in a loud voice to Gale, who was fuming. They both stopped short when they saw Annie. "Oh." The District 2 Victor said, as though she didn't know what to do from here. "Hello, Annie." She blatantly ignored Johanna, who was glaring angrily at her.

"Hi, Enobaria," Annie gave an acknowledging nod of her head. "Gale."

"Annie," he said in a gruff voice before his eyes slid over to Johanna, who was staring at him with obvious amusement, even as she sneered at Enobaria. "Johanna."

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Annie?" Enobaria asked, trying to put a gentle smile on her face. Annie could see that it was a genuine attempt, but it also looked as though the older woman was very confused.

"Of course," she nodded.

Almost immediately, Gale and Johanna moved away from them, giving them privacy. "So," Enobaria said. "Annie."

It would almost be funny how unlike herself the District 2 Victor sounded if Annie weren't so struck by grief. "Enobaria," she said.

"So... so it's public now," the other Victor seemed to be struggling with her words. "What was done."

Annie didn't have to ask Enobaria what she was talking about, for she knew. "Yeah," she answered in a clear voice. "It is."

"You were lucky, weren't you?" Enobaria seemed to squint at her, observing, as though she was trying to see something that wasn't visible at first glance.

"Yes," Annie nodded, her voice soft. "I was."

"But you felt Finnick's pain, didn't you?" Enobaria had a grim look on her face.

"It was worse because I just assumed the worst about him, and when I found out the truth, it was a little bit too late for anything," Annie replied. She didn't know why she was telling Enobaria this. Maybe it was because the other Victor had gone through the same thing that Finnick had gone through, that Johanna had. Victors all shared a bond, even if some of them didn't want to admit it. Victors, Tributes - all of them had a bond. So it was only sensible that those who had been forced into the sex industry, who had basically allowed themselves to be raped over and over again, would connect with each other. The former Capitol could claim all they wanted that the Victors had willingly allowed their bodies to be sold. But they conveniently forgot to add in the fact that the Victors knew the price for not obeying. Someone you loved died. Sometimes, like with Finnick, it hadn't been one person, but five. So the line got hazy there, didn't it? You might be 'willing', but it was basically non-consensual sex. No matter how nicely the former Capitol attempted to put it, there was nothing pleasant or okay about what had been done. So maybe that was why Annie was telling Enobaria this, confessing it to her like she had to Finnick and Johanna.

_A Very Distant Past_

They talked the rest of the way home about how their day had been - teachers, old friends (for Parns), new friends (for Delphi), classes, the homework load.

The three of them had just turned a corner when Annie saw a familiar-looking figure leaning against a post, his hands shoved into his pants pockets, his head bent and a messenger bag slinged across his left shoulder. She didn't bother to keep the obvious surprise out of her voice. "Finnick?"

He looked up when he heard her voice, a smile on his face as he walked towards them. "Hey, Annie. Is that Delphi and Parnassus with you?"

"Finnick!" Delphi let out a happy shriek, and without warning, she ran towards him, her arms open and a huge grin on her face.

"Delphi!" he laughed, enveloping her in his arms as he picked her up and spun her around in circles. "I missed you!"

"Me too!" she laughed as he set her back down.

"So how come you're not at Excelsior this year?" Finnick frowned as he took in Delphi's clothes.

Annie noticed him scrutinizing her sister. Obviously, the fact that Delphi was wearing normal clothes, not one of the Excelsior uniforms that she always used to wear for the past couple of years, hadn't escaped his notice - especially since he was decked from head to toe in the school uniform right now. "I didn't really like it there," Delphi gave a noncommittal shrug.

Finnick's frown deepened as he rose his eyebrows. "So you just decided to drop out after three years? Why didn't you do it earlier if you didn't like it so much?"

"Look, leave my sister alone, Finnick," Annie snapped as she stepped forward protectively and took Delphi's hand in hers. "What're you doing here, anyway?"

"Don't we have an unspoken agreement that I wait for you so that we can go to work together?" Finnick asked.

"So you're going to stalk me all year long now?" Annie let out an annoyed sigh as she began to walk down the street.

"Who said anything about stalking?" Finnick called out from his place on the street, not making a move to follow her.

Annie ignored him, although she did increase her pace as she hurried home.

"He knows!" Delphi hissed when they reached the front porch of their house, far enough so that Finnick couldn't hear what they were saying unless he'd followed them. "Annie, he knows!"

"He suspects," Annie said, shaking her head as she unlocked the front door. "But he isn't sure."

"How do you know that?" Parns frowned. "Either of you, I mean."

"Stop asking so many questions, Parns," Delphi snapped angrily at him, her happy mood now gone. "Annie, if he knows, he's going to-"

"He only knows that dad died, Delphi," Annie kept her voice calm as she opened the door and let her siblings in. "Nothing else."

"Are you sure about that?" Delphi frowned. "Finnick's a good person, but if he thinks that something is going on, he'll probably interfere."

That last part wasn't true, Annie thought. Finnick _did _know that something was going on that wasn't her father's death, and yet, he hadn't barged into the situation and tried to solve it. He was giving her privacy and space (in this matter, anyway), and for that, Annie was thankful. "I'm sure, Delphi," Annie said, sounding more firm then she really felt. "I'll be back in four hours, okay?"

"Okay," her siblings chorused together, their heads nodding simultaneously.

"Remember," Annie said. "Lock all the doors and windows. If anyone comes to the door-"

"Don't answer it," they replied. "We know, Annie."

With that, Annie headed back down the street, making a few turns here and there until she reached Finnick, who was in that casual position she'd seen him with earlier.

"You're back." He smiled when he saw her. "You just couldn't resist me, could you?"

"Oh, shut up," Annie let out a weary sigh as they walked to the docks. "What the hell are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't an Excelsior brat like you be strutting around with the rest of your air-headed entourage?"

"Someone's feeling judgmental today." Finnick laughed, but Annie noticed that his smile didn't reach his eyes and that a chord in his neck twitched at what she had said.

"So how did you figure out my work schedule?" She asked, not bothering to hide her curiosity about this matter.

He shrugged. "It just seemed like something you'd do."

"What? Come and work on a school-day?"

Finnick inclined his head in response.

Annie made a face at him. "So you're telling me it has nothing to do with you asking about my schedule?"

"Maybe," he answered. "And maybe not. But either way, it's obvious that you work on schooldays."

She let out a snort. "Really? And why is that?"

"Well, your father died, didn't he?" Finnick asked. "And you've been working every single day of the summer. It's only sensible that you'd be working now that the school year's started as well."

"So because someone works every single day of the summer, they obviously need to work during the school year, too? You know, there is such a thing as a part-time job, Finnick."

He laughed. "You wouldn't be so defensive about this so-called part-time job if you didn't need it or weren't hiding something."

"So you've got it all figured out then, have you?" Annie asked, telling herself to calm down. There was no way that he could know the whole truth, could he?

"'Course I do," Finnick winked at her, and she although outwards she showed no reaction, Annie allowed herself to do a little sigh of relief inside. He didn't really know the whole truth. Good.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Annie slept with her head leaned back against the prison wall, which was made of a strange, mud-like material. Her knees were drawn up, and her arms lay on to of them. To appear to be sleeping too casually or too defensively would make you a target for the Peacekeepers, so she was stuck in a position that was in-between.

It was hard to sleep, with the screams bouncing off in the distance, screams that never stopped no matter what time of day it was. Sometimes, Annie ended up sleeping during the day - an erratic, strange cycle that probably wasn't healthy at all. But she didn't care. What did that matter when there was some-

The cell door clanged open, and it jerked Annie out of a half-dream, half-awake state, Finnick's voice leaving her as her eyes fluttered open and she straightened.

"You!" Dubont barked out, pointing an accusatory finger at Annie, as though she had done something wrong. This was bad, Annie thought. Very, very bad. "Get up, you little bitch!"

_Here we go again_, Annie told herself as she let out a breath and rose to her feet.


	8. Part VIII: A Funny Thing

A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who continue to read this story and give me your feedback and support. You guys honestly help make my day! Thank you! (: (See how I have nothing intelligent to say) Thank you to my new readers who favorited/alerted this story and favorited/alerted me. Thank you so much! To SQUISHIPIE, AWhiteBlankPage, Annony, PeachyBookLover, Elle, ordanje, and Ellinell: thank you for taking the time to pen me a review, you guys! Thank you so much! (:

This chapter is a birthday present for my bb Amelia/Em (vivid_moment), who is the most adorable little bundle of sunshine anyone could ever meet, and is always just as crazy hyper as I am. You need to finish _Catching Fire _ASAP, bb. Anyhow! Happy birthday, sweetie! (: / sends Alex Pettyfer over to you [ can you believe he's dating Dianna now, hun? I miss him with Emma; you and me both! ] /

Also, **this is important**! Can everyone give me **one word or phrase **they'd **like me to work with** (like 'sky' or 'ocean water')? I do have prompts, but it's a very short list to work with. I'd really appreciate it if you guys did! Thank you! (:

And, as always, your feedback would be amazing! On to the chappie now. (:

Part VIII: A Funny Thing

_A Very Distant Past_

"Can you hand me that box?" Annie asked as she crossed another item off of the long checklist.

Finnick nodded, waiting for her to put her clipboard aside before he put the box in her arms. "We're almost done, aren't we?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered, opening the box and double-checking the inventory.

"Want to come over to my house and do homework afterwards?" he inquired.

"Nope," Annie replied as she sorted through the wrapped packages.

"Why not?"

"My mom is expecting me, Finnick," she said matter-of-factly. "I don't know what policy your parents-"

"It's kind of selfish of her, isn't it?" he interrupted her rather abruptly.

Annie's fingers stopped, and she straightened up, looking him in the eye. "What?"

"That she's letting her daughter work harder than she is," Finnick said in a calm voice.

"How do you know I'm working harder than she is?" Annie crossed her arms defensively.

"She's at home, isn't she? Just sitting there and letting you work late hours." He paused, and then went on, "I'd bet my Excelsior tuition that she doesn't even work, does she? You're the one making all the money."

"That's none of your business, Odair," she said in a tight voice. She felt anger and relief all at once. Anger, because it wasn't his place to say those kind of things. Relief, because he thought that he knew what was really going on, and although in a way, what he'd said was true, he still didn't know the truth.

"I just think it's not nice of any mother to let her eldest daughter raise her siblings and bring home the income. Is that so bad of me, to think that?" Finnick rose his eyebrows at her, but she could tell that he was very serious about this.

"Stop talking," Annie snapped at him. "Besides, what's an Excelsior brat like you doing caring about stuff like this, anyway? You shouldn't even be here."

His eyes rose higher on his head. "I shouldn't be here? Working, you mean?"

"What else would I mean?" Annie asked as she went back to checking the inventory.

Finnick let out a harsh laugh. "You think that just because I go to Excelsior I'm a snotty well-to-do kid like the rest of them?"

"How should I know?" She gave a shrug of her shoulders as she closed up the box. "You tell me, since you think you're so special."

"Oh, that's really rich, Cresta." Finnick let out a bitter laugh, and his voice was low and infuriated. "Everyone at Excelsior is wealthy and spoiled, are they? What about your sister?"

"Well, she's not there anymore, is she?" Annie snapped as she picked up the clipboard. "Besides, I didn't say that all of you were a bunch of snobs. You simply put the words in my mouth."

"No?" Finnick took a step towards her. "Well, you seem to think that I'm just like the rest of them, don't you? So you can't really say that I'm putting words in your mouth."

"You know what?" Annie stopped jotting stuff down on the clipboard as she lowered it, her eyes angry as she glared at him. "Save it. I don't want to hear your stupid 'oh-pity-me' sob story."

"Fine," Finnick snapped. "I wasn't going to tell you, anyway."

Annie said nothing in reply, and for the next ten minutes, they worked in silence before walking out of the freezer and sitting down on opposite sides of the storage room to work on their homework.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Annie was hyperaware of every little detail as she made her way out of the cell. The other prisoners (the ones who were awake, anyway) who pressed against the wall as she walked by, probably afraid of drawing attention to themselves. A drop of water that fell from a leak on the ceiling. The darkness of the cell, making the dimly lit hallway seem like the sun in comparison. The screams that seemed to come from everywhere and anywhere.

"Hurry up," Dubont snarled, slamming the door shut as Annie finally walked out of the cell. When Annie said nothing, simply stared at her, Dubont swore under her breath before she yanked Annie's upper left arm and half-dragged her down the hallway.

"Where are we going?" Annie asked as their footsteps made a strange rhythm against the floor.

"To make a special visit to your good friend Johanna Mason," Dubont replied, a smile on her face.

Annie allowed herself to frown, but just a little. _Don't show any emotion, Annie. Don't make them suspect anything. _"I thought you were done with her?" she asked in a bored tone.

"Oh, we're never done with anyone around here, Annie Cresta. That's the first thing that you should learn."

Oh, she knew that. But she wasn't going to give Dubont some remark that was sure to jeopardize Johanna. So instead, she answered, "Okay."

"Good," Dubont laughed before she wrinkled her nose in disgust and a look of disdain flitted across her features. "Don't you people ever shower?"

Was Dubont stupid, or was this a trick question? Surely the Peacekeeper wasn't idiot enough to think that the prisoners were allowed to shower, unless it was for torture purposes. No, this had to be some sort of trick question. "Not really," Annie replied.

"Would you like a shower?" Dubont asked, a little too nicely for Annie's taste.

"No, thank you," Annie gave her a small smile. _Act polite, Annie._ _Act polite. _

"Well, too bad. You're going to get one. Of a sort, obviously." Dubont laughed, as though this was very funny.

"How does this have to do with Johanna Mason?" Annie inquired.

"You'll see," Dubont sing-songed, laughing as they made a left turn. "You'll see."

Despite herself, Annie couldn't help it, and she shivered, the tremor traveling from her back and down to her toes before it went all the way to the ends of her hair.

_A Distant Past_

Annie said nothing as she picked at her plate, jabbing her fork every now and then into the potatoes that stared silently back at her.

"Do you two want to go to the mayor's house tonight?" Mags asked.

Annie shook her head in response while Finnick answered "no" through a mouthful of spaghetti.

Mags looked from Finnick to Annie, as though she were trying to figure something out, and then she shook her head. "Okay. I have to go since I promised Henrietta that I'd help her figure out what kind of almonds she wants to put on the table."

"Can't she figure it out herself?" Finnick frowned as he twirled some more spaghetti around his fork.

"Probably not," Mags noted. "Are you two staying here?"

Finnick nodded. "I'll bring Annie back home later."

Mags let out a laugh. "Seeing as how both of our houses are in the Victor's Village, I don't know why you're making it sound like you're-" She stopped, a frown on her face as she came to a realization about something. "You _are_ coming back later, aren't you, Finnick?"

"I'll drop Annie off," he said in a tight voice.

Mags' eyes flickered over to Annie, who sat on his right and had said nearly nothing during the entire duration of their meal. Come to think about it, after Annie had called her from Finnick's car in the late afternoon and asked Mags to come over and eat dinner at the old house, the girl hadn't said a single word. Something was going on between the two of them, obviously. Mags rose from her seat. "Oh, will you look at the time! I just realized that I have to go to the house a few hours early. I'll see you two later!"

This was such a blatant lie, but Annie said nothing, despite the alarm that showed on her face.

"I can drop you off," Finnick said suddenly.

"No, no," Mags shook her head as she headed out of the kitchen. "Have fun, you two!" She was going to be four hours early, to be precise. But she knew what it was like to be young and angsty and in love with someone, and she recognized that Finnick and Annie needed their privacy.

The front door slammed shut, and Finnick let out a sigh. "Well, that went well, didn't it?"

Annie said nothing, simply stabbed her potatoes some more.

"Annie," he said. "Talk to me."

Silence.

"Annie, is this about earlier? Because I-"

"Yes," she answered quietly.

Finnick set down his fork, which he had been busy mixing around the crimson sauce. "Look, it's not I think that you're out of your mind or something." His eyes met hers, and for a moment, they were simply a sea of green that met each other halfway. "You seem to think that I do, though."

"I don't cry," Annie said simply. "You know that, Finnick. I also don't hit you, but I did both of those things today."

"And that's supposed to make me think differently about you?" his voice was incredulous. "Annie, I-"

"Maybe." She tore her eyes away from his before she dipped her fork into the cup of juice that sat in front of her, probably unaware that she had done so.

"If anything, you should be thinking differently about me," Finnick said, letting out an uneasy laugh. "I ran away from you after I-" he broke off for a moment before he went on. "I talked about killing myself and I-"

Her hand reached over immediately, her fingers grasping his. "Finnick," Annie said softly as she looked at him. "Finnick, you did nothing wrong."

"You think I did, though, don't you?" his eyes searched hers.

"I did," she admitted. "But today was the funeral, Finnick. You have every right to act however you want."

Finnick gripped her hand, not wanting her to let go, not willing to release his hold on her. They sat there in silence, two lost people holding onto each other, their fingers laced as they finished eating their dinner.

_A Little While Ago_

"So, what do you think they're talking about?" Gale asked as his gaze settled on Annie and Enobaria, who were both frowning and murmuring to each other in low voices.

"Does it matter?" Johanna gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"Enobaria just never struck me as the type who'd saunter up to Annie and ask to have a private word with her," Gale commented. "She's more like-"

"The type who'd just walk by and say nothing, even if it _is_ a funeral?" Johanna offered.

"Something like that," Gale replied.

"It's Finnick's funeral, Hawthorne. I don't know if you don't realize this or not, but he was important to a lot of people around here." Her voice was tight, and she sounded a little bit angry.

"I never said that," he said defensively. "You think I don't know that? Finnick was-" He stopped, and then frowned. "Huh."

"What?" Johanna crossed her arms. "Do you have something to say?"

"You were in love with him, weren't you?" Gale asked in a soft voice, but the way that he said it was more like a statement than an inquiry. "Finnick."

She scowled at him. "And you know this _how_, exactly?"

"You know, I'm willing to bet that maybe you do still love him, or think that you do," Gale went on.

"Do you have any proof?" Johanna laughed, apparently no longer concerned by what he'd said.

"I'm not as stupid as you'd make me out to be, you know," Gale said matter-of-factly. "It doesn't take a complete genius to figure it out, especially when I've already been the odd one out in a party of three."

"Katniss and Peeta, you mean?" Johanna asked, a frown on her face. "Don't compare Finnick and Annie to them."

"I'm not trying to," Gale said before a strange look came across his features. "What does it matter to you, anyway?"

"You're obviously feeling resentful over Katniss and Peeta," Johanna pointed out. "But you don't have any reason to feel the same way about Finnick and Annie, do you?"

Gale rose his eyebrows. "I would think that you'd be bitter about them." When she said nothing in response, he thought maybe he hadn't been clear enough. "Finnick and Annie, I mean."

Johanna shrugged and let out a tired sigh. "I used to be. And I still am, sometimes. But he knew, and I knew - well, both of us did - that what we had was second-tier. Annie was always who he wanted, even if he tried not to."

"Isn't that gracious of you," Gale commented in a wry tone.

"If you tell anyone, I'll hack your brains out with an axe," Johanna replied. "And don't think that I won't, because I will."

"Mmm," Gale answered simply, trying to appear unaffected. But Johanna didn't miss the slight flinching of his shoulders, and she laughed.

_A Very Distant Past_

"Do you think District 1 is more important, or does District 2 have more value?" Finnick's voice called out from the other side of the room.

Annie didn't answer him, trying to concentrate on her homework. Just five more pages, and she'd be done for today. Then they just had to wait for the last few boxes to come in, check those, and they'd be done for the day. She'd be done, and then she could go home, see her siblings, eat dinner, study some more, and go to sleep.

Finnick went on, apparently not caring that she hadn't given him a response. "You see, although it's true that District 1 makes luxury items, District 2 does have a lot of value, with their mines and military base-" Didn't he know how to shut up? She couldn't concentrate with his annoying voice going on and on, a voice that just kept on getting louder and louder, like he was doing it on purpose, just to irk her. "... like that, I think. Of course, District 4 is the best, since we have fish and-"

"Can you shut up?" Annie let out a tired sigh as she scribbled down random nonsense on her paper. "Some of us are actually trying to do our homework here."

"Oh, so you _can_ hear me," Finnick laughed, as though this was all very funny. "I was beginning to get a little worried that you'd hit yourself on the head."

"Ha ha," she said dryly. "Not funny."

There was the sound of boxes being moved as Finnick stood up, and the sound of his footsteps came towards her. Before she knew it, he was standing in front of her. "Can I sit?" he asked.

"No," Annie replied.

He didn't care, of course, and plopped down next to her, setting his bag down on the floor as he re-opened his textbook, the page that he had been studying wedged with a piece of paper. "So, what's your opinion on the whole matter?"

"Do your homework on your own, Odair," she sighed.

"Why?" Finnick asked. "Are you having trouble with yours? I can help you, you know."

_Ha._ Finnick Odair, intelligent. Imagine that. "I don't think so," she replied. "Your pea-sized brain would probably explode from trying to think."

"Oh, that again?" He asked, the humor vanishing from his voice. "You know, for someone who claims to be loathe Excelsior kids based on the fact that we're all so ignorant, you have an extremely narrow viewpoint."

Annie shrugged. "Well, I guess that's too bad, isn't it? All of us non-Excelsior people are prejudiced and bitter, aren't we? Boo hoo."

"You don't have to be so unpleasant," he said angrily.

"You don't have to try and prove yourself," she snapped. "An Excelsior brat is an Excelsior brat, and that's the end of the story."

"Even your sister?" Finnick asked.

_No. _"Yes," she replied, not wanting to give him any entry point to an upper hand in this argument. "You know, I was worried that she was turning into one of you, but she's back on track now."

His eyes narrowed. "You know, I was going to ask you if you could give her a message for me, but seeing as a brainless Excelsior snob like me can't even do that, I'll just somehow manage to do it myself."

"Go ahead and try," Annie said. "But you're an idiot if you think I'm going to let you talk to her."

Finnick laughed. "Are you serious? Now you're going to dictate if your sister can or can't talk to me?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Would you still be acting this way if you didn't know that I go to Excelsior?" he inquired.

"Probably," Annie replied. "You're very annoying, you know."

"Do you really despise me that much, Annie?" Finnick asked, his voice low and serious.

Annie began to give him her usual response to this question when she stopped herself short. Finnick was probably half-expecting her to give him her typical response, and maybe he was half-expecting her to say something completely different. Okay, so maybe he was expecting ninety percent typical response and ten percent different response. So why not throw him off? "No," she said. "Not really."

He rose his eyebrows in surprise. "Are you lying?"

"No." That was true.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Annie was brought into a large room that seemed a lot like the Training Center in District 4. A large and very deep pool that was brightly lit from the bottom and sides seemed to take up half of the space. There was a flight of concrete steps that had little stops every now and then, with each stop leading to a diving board. On the third jumping point, a familiar-looking figure who had chains securely wrapped all over her was being poked and prodded by two robed Peacekeepers. "Johanna," Annie murmured.

Dubont laughed, and she continued to drag Annie by the arm, the two of them walking past the pool and up the set of concrete stairs, a strange round of turns here and jerks there. Finally, they reached the third jumping point, where Dubont nodded at the two Peacekeepers. "Go."

As they disappeared down the flight of stairs, Annie looked at Johanna. Blood ran all over her face, and she looked a bit delirious. Her eyes opened and closed constantly, and Annie could see the whites of those eyes more than the actual brown color that she was so used to. The District 7 Victor was slumped against the wall, and it was only her will that kept her up on her two feet. A normal person would have slumped down against the wall already, but Johanna wasn't normal. An electric collar of some sort was locked against her neck. Her hands were behind her back, and the chains seemed to dig into her skin, making the blood not only on her face, but flowing freely, all over her skin - her arms, her legs, her-

"Annie?" Johanna asked in a weak voice as her lashes fluttered. "Is that you?"

"It's me," she said in a careful voice. "I'm here."

"Oh, isn't this sweet?" Dubont laughed. "The only thing funnier than this would be the reunion of Finnick and Annie, wouldn't it?"

Annie said nothing. _Don't let her bait you. Don't let her affect you. She's lower than you, Annie. A useless, control-driven, power-hungry Peacekeeper who's going to die. _

"Now. Annie," Dubont said, not caring that her words had been ignored. "You like the water, don't you? Oh, what am I talking about? All of you District 4 Victors do."

"Yes," Annie answered.

"Don't you want to swim again, Annie?" Dubont asked. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Yet another attempt by the Peacekeeper at hidden trick questions. "I think so," Annie said. Yes, she did. Water was her natural element. Here she could flip and dive and go under the water and see like no one else could. She loved being in the water - the taste of the salt, the feel of the water against every pore of her skin - the sensations were all so amazing, so natural. _My little mermaid_, her father used to say. It gave her a sad smile, and then she was thinking about Finnick, how he used to call her his "beautiful girl of water". Annie itched to swim again. How long had it been since she had lost done so? She hadn't counted how many days it had been since she'd been arrested and thrown into the Capitol cell, but she was willing to bet that it was weeks and perhaps even months.

"How about this," Dubont smiled. "I'll give you however long you want in the pool, whenever you want."

"What do you want in return?" Annie asked. She wanted to swim, but she wasn't that desperate. Not for the price that she knew Dubont was going to demand of her.

The Peacekeeper laughed. "Who said there's a price?"

"There's always a price," Annie said simply. Everything had one, because everything came at a cost. Whether it was a physical one or an emotional and unseen one, there was always, always a price. Always.

"Clever, aren't you?" Dubont smiled.

"Your price, Peacekeeper?" Annie repeated.

"Push her in," Dubont said in a soft voice, the grin spreading across her face. "Push her in, and you'll get what you want, Annie."

It seemed so simple, didn't it? Push Johanna in, push her in when she so obviously had a phobia of water. Push her in, and let her feel fear crawl through her as she got closer and closer to the pool of shimmering water. Let the chains drag her down once her body hit the water so that she couldn't come to the surface and escape. Make her feel trapped at the bottom, like she's stuck all the way down there. Because she will be, with all of the chains secured around her. Annie could see from here that the pool was about thirty feet deep - not a lot, but for someone who was now afraid of water, the depth would be too much to bear. Push her in, and then let the Peacekeepers send electric shocks through her. Do that to someone with a phobia of water, and they'd want to die.

"No," Annie said as she stared at Johanna's half-conscious form, a young woman who could barely hold herself up. "I won't."

"What did you say?" Dubont asked, the amused expression now wiped off of her face.

"I won't do it," Annie repeated.

"Do it!" Dubont snapped irritably. "I told you to do it!"

_And I don't take orders from Peacekeepers. _"No," Annie restated.

"Push her in!" Dubont practically screamed, losing her cool now. "What are you waiting for, you useless bitch? Push her in! Now!"

"Why?" Annie asked. _Just do it, Annie. Do it before the Peacekeeper really loses it and blows up, and then it will be easier for the both of you. You and Johanna both. _"She's done nothing-"

"Oh, but she's done things, Annie Cresta," Dubont sauntered up to them, patting Johanna's bald head. "Haven't you, Johanna?"

"So what?" Johanna croaked out, and she sounded like she didn't care. But Annie could see that the other Victor was visibly trembling and doing her best not to stare at the pool of brightly lit water.

"Don't you care, Annie?" Dubont asked. "Don't you care that she was busy fucking your beloved Finnick Odair while you sat at home in District 4? Don't you care that she touched him?" Dubont's fingers ran up and down the expanse of Johanna's neck, poking at the bare skin that wasn't covered by chains, or sticking her fingers through the small holes that the chains had. "That he knows this skin very well? Don't you care that he kissed her, that he made her moan and cry out like the stupid little bitch that she is? Don't you care that they knew each other in one of the most intimate ways a person can know someone else?"

"Finnick knew a lot of people that way," Annie said casually. None of this was new information to her. If Dubont was trying to goad her, it wasn't going to work. It merely made her head hurt, because she just wanted to get Johanna out of here and go back to her cell and think. "Why should Johanna make a difference?"

"Because they were lovers," Dubont was in front of her now, her face merely inches from Annie's. "And I would think that that would matter to you, Annie. She had him before you got to. Doesn't that make you jealous? Don't you want to punish her?"

_Lovers_. Annie knew what Dubont meant. Not the fake lovers in the Capitol who bought the bodies of the Victors. No, lovers who knew little, intimate things about one another. That was what Dubont meant when she said the word, as though it were a poisonous snake. "Not really," Annie shrugged. And she didn't. She had been jealous that way a long, long time ago. It seemed like such an eternity ago, now that she thought about it. The pang in her heart, the crushed feeling - that wasn't really there anymore. Because even though she sometimes felt uneasy when she thought about it, the truth was that Finnick-

"She loved him!" Dubont roared, losing her temper. "Shouldn't that matter to you?"

"But he didn't love her," Annie said, and from the corner of her eye, she could see Johanna flinch. "And that's what matters." Well, that was half-true. Finnick had loved Johanna, in his own way. But not the way that he loved Annie. He'd tried to love Johanna that way, but he couldn't. Love was strange that way.

"Look at her!" Dubont shouted. "She still loves him! Don't you want to get rid of her? She'll snatch him away!"

"She can't," Annie replied. "We're not getting out of here, so how can she?"

Dubont laughed, as though she thought that this was the funniest thing she'd ever heard in her life. "Oh, we'll catch him, Annie. Don't think that we won't. And when we do, we'll bring him here. He'll rot away in a cell, and before he gets executed, we'll let him see you. Johanna, too. You're not worried about that? The reunion of two good friends with benefits?"

Was this Peacekeeper really that stupid? The Rebellion might seem inadequate, but Annie highly doubted that Finnick would allow himself to be captured. Even if he did, there were methods they had so that he wouldn't have to suffer. A cup of tea here, a small pill there, the rope that Finnick always had with him - no, Finnick wouldn't let himself be tortured. Or would he?

"Very well," Dubont said, letting out another laugh before she spoke into her headset. "Bring them in."

_A Little While Ago_

The two of them watched Annie as she talked to Enobaria, a young woman in grief who shouldn't have to be a widow at such a young age and a woman slightly older who didn't know what to do. Enobaria reached forward and placed her hands in Annie's, who looked slightly surprised.

"You think she can see us?" Finnick asked as he turned to Mags. "Do you think any of them can?"

"Don't push it." His former Mentor shook her head. "We're only here because you can't move on, Finnick."

"You expect me to move on? From Annie?" His voice was incredulous. "What are you, out of your right mind?"

She gave him a sad smile. "I never said that I wanted you to come with me. Stay if you wish to, Finnick. But know that I can't stay with you."

"Because you've had closure," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm done here." Mags reached her hand out and placed it against his cheek. "But you're not, Finnick. I don't think you'll be done for a very long time."

"My family sure went fast, though, didn't they?" Finnick asked, and although his voice was amused, it cracked as he went on. "Everyone but Aunt Capet."

"Finnick," the old woman shook her head. "We've been over this. They knew that you had me and Annie. They thought that you were going to be okay. Capet only stayed behind because she knew why all of them had died, and she felt that she needed to watch over you."

"And eventually, she moved on, too," Finnick said accusingly.

"I cannot give you all of the answers that you seek, Finnick," Mags replied softly. "You'll have to ask them yourself."

"Leave Annie behind, you mean." Finnick's voice was angry. "I won't do it."

"I'm not forcing you to do anything," she said. "I'm simply telling you, Finnick. You know I only want what's best for you."

That was true. Mags wasn't doing anything wrong. She was simply telling him, and he was letting his temper unleash itself on the messenger.

"I can't let go of her, Mags," Finnick said, his voice a low murmur. "I can't."

"The children can see you," she said abruptly, such a random and strange thing that it threw him off course.

Finnick blinked. "What?"

"The younger ones always can," Mags smiled at him, her eyes twinkling in a way that told him she wasn't going to tell him what she knew. "Shall we?" she asked, inclining her head towards the last family that Finnick had had while he was alive, during those last few months.

His parents. His siblings. Aunt Capet. They'd been the first ones to die, and then all he had left was Mags and Annie. Then Mags was gone too, giving herself up in the arena. After that, there was only Annie. Annie, who was had been half his family, was now the only one left. The last one standing. Finnick had promised her that he'd never leave her, and now, he was gone. So many broken promises, but this was the worst of all, wasn't it?


	9. Part IX: Strange Things

A/N: I know, this is a VERY late update. I'm sorry! It's just that for some reason, the middle of this story seems to like writing itself out while the current chapters refuse to work in my mind. So those middle ones are all done, and I'm excited about them and ready to put them up, and then I realize that I still have to work on this part. Sorry! Also, _Impossible_ has been practically shouting in my head to be written, and I've been working on that as well, so I apologize!

I was going to update this Friday night, and then decided to go all wonky on me and not work for anything except for profile viewing. Yeah...

You guys! Muttations Podcast chose _Hazy _as their Fanfic Pick of the Week! Wow! (: It is really such an incredible honor, and just thank you! Thank you so much to the staff there, and to Jessica (KenoshaChick)! / see how immature and squeeing I am? Yeah. /

clairebeauchamp was kind enough to take my request and make a banner for this story! So yay! (:

Also, we've changed our username at Livejournal from ontd_thg to ontd_panem! Come have fun with us! (:

Thank you so, so much to everyone who added this to their favorites and put it on alert, or did that for me. Thank you! (: To all of my reviewers: thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are so amazing and really do make my day! (: To SQUISHPIE, Ellinell, Annony, Beth, PeachyBookLover, Riddlemethis, xMoonlessx, Elle, Amy, KCerena, no name, RiverOtter1, and nowhereisdarkness! Thanks to everyone who gave me a phrase/word! We'll see how that little project turns out! (:

Anyhow! On to the story now! As usual, your feedback would be greatly appreciated! These chappies take hours and days to write, but penning some feedback takes less than a minute. (;

Part IX: Strange Things

_A Very Distant Past_

"Well," Annie said as they reached the lamppost and stopped walking. "This is where I stop."

Finnick nodded. "I know that."

"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

He inclined his head. "Look, can you tell Delphi that Pisca wants to train with her this Saturday?"

"All right," Annie said. "I will."

Finnick seemed to flush for a moment, and then he blurted out in a garbled rush, "?"

She blinked, not understanding what he had just said. Something about an iris tattoo? "What? What did you say?"

Finnick fidgeted nervously. "I was wondering if you wanted to come too? To train? You and Parnassus, I mean. According to Aunt Capet, there's not going to be too many people at the center this weekend, so-"

"To training?" Annie rose her eyebrows. She hadn't done any training since her mother had disappeared. There had simply been no time for it, not when she had to work for such a measly amount of money that could barely sustain them.

"Look, just forget it," he shook his head. "I'm sorry I asked."

"I'll have to ask my mom," Annie lied. She wouldn't be going. She simply couldn't afford to give up any time. Besides, even if she did end up getting picked for the Games in a couple of years, nearly everyone in their District had a dream to enter the Games and win. There would be no shortage of volunteers, and she would be able to breathe a sigh of relief and go on with her life. Still, she knew that Delphi would probably be begging to go.

"Okay," Finnick nodded, looking a little bit relieved.

"Well," she said, giving him an awkward smile. "I guess I'll see you."

"Yeah," he replied.

"Bye," Annie turned around and began to walk down the street.

"Annie!" Finnick shouted as he caught up with her. "Here," he said, reaching into his messenger bag before he handed her a dark green sack.

"What's this?" she frowned, opening the slightly heavy sack and peering inside.

"For Delphi and Parns," he answered.

"Oh," Annie said, not knowing what to say. Uncharacteristic kindness from Finnick Odair. Huh. "Thanks, Finnick."

He nodded, and then gave her a sheepish smile. "Well, I guess I'll see you here tomorrow? Same time?"

"Alright," Annie agreed. "You know, if I were you, I'd head home right about now if I wanted to get my Excelsior uniform washed and at least half-dry for school tomorrow."

Finnick let out an amused laugh. "I have multiple uniforms at home, Annie. Or did you forget that already? Delphi didn't drop out of Excelsior _that _long ago, if I remember correctly."

Annie rose her eyebrows. "Why do you work?" she asked before she could help it.

Finnick stopped mid-laugh, the smile frozen on his face. "What?"

Maybe her whole theory on his family had been wrong. Maybe they really were well-to-do and snobby. How else could they afford to send all three of their children to the most costly school in District 4? Unless, like Annie had earlier theorized, Aunt Capet was the one doing it. Still, even if she was helping them, it didn't make sense that Finnick would work. "Why do you work?" she repeated. "You don't have to."

His mouth was taut with tension before the strange expression on his face shifted to one of puzzled amusement. "That's a story for tomorrow. I'll save it for then just to make sure that you do actually meet up with me." Finnick winked at her before he spun on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

Annie laughed, shaking her head as she hauled the sack over her shoulder and headed back home, the setting sun shining down on her all the while.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

The first one that Annie noticed was the little boy at the head of the line. He trembled as he was brought in, flinching whenever the Peacekeepers barked at him to hurry up. His feet dragged against the floor as he forced himself forward, but his eyes stared at the floor, not once looking up. Annie wished that she could call out to him, somehow communicate that what he was doing was wrong. He needed to stare ahead, needed to act impassive - something that the rest of them had perfected. Showing any emotion whatsoever made you stand out, and this boy was going to be an easy and fast target.

There were twenty-four of them in total. The significance of this was not lost on Annie. They all varied in age, but in the end, there were twelve boys and twelve girls. So what was going to happen? Would twenty-three of them die and one of them be let out alive, like the Hunger Games? Would they all die? Was this something that Dubont wanted to live on Annie's subconscious, that she would have to bear, knowing that it had happened because she had refused orders?

"Cute, aren't they?" Dubont asked as the mass of bodies was brought closer and closer to the concrete stairs. "Too bad we couldn't find one from every District. District 12 let itself blow up, and District 2 is just too loyal to the Capitol, so of course we couldn't take anyone from them. But it would have been so much funner that way. Don't you think so, Annie?"

Better to respond then to let this Peacekeeper think that she was mute from anger or shock or any other emotion that Dubont would find delight in. "They're okay. You could have found better ones," Annie responded as she looked the other woman in the eye.

Dubont let out a small laugh before she focused her attention back on the group down below. "Listen up!" she shouted at them. "You see this girl over here?" She pointed at Annie. "She doesn't understand directions! I told her to push this girl" - Dubont yanked Johanna's chains and dragged her close to the edge- "over here into the water, and yet, she won't listen! It's easy, isn't it? Pushing someone into a pool?"

The children didn't answer, although Annie saw most of them exhale in anticipation. The little boy bit his lower lip. The only sound heard throughout the large center was the clanking of Johanna's chains as Dubont dragged her from left to right.

"Answer me!" Dubont roared at them, and Annie could see a few of them flinch. "Idiotical brats! Is it or is it not easy to push someone into a pool?"

"Yes!" The little boy squeaked out.

Dubont laughed, an irritating sound that Annie had grown so used to but was very tired of hearing. "Very good!" she grinned. "Very good. Do you know what happens when someone disobeys a Peacekeeper? Their companions have to pay the price. So now, all of you are going to die! All of you but one!"

Annie wanted to shout, but she didn't. She knew that Dubont was watching her, trying to gauge her reaction. If she showed any sort of distress, the only thing that could be got out of it was Dubont's enjoyment at her anger and frustration. So she was emotionless, keeping anything that she was feeling in check, although underneath the surface, her emotions were boiling.

Without warning, a young boy who looked to be around eleven years old was yanked forward, dragged by the tendrils of his hair by a strangely calm Peacekeeper who pushed his head into the pool, submerged head-first into the water, the Peacekeeper laughing as the boy's body thrashed. And then, it was done. The moment the boy managed to get his head up, a gun was cocked against the back of his neck. The bullet rang out, and the boy's limp body slipped into the pool. His screaming stopped, but others' began now. The blood began to flow from the back of his head, a vibrant red that spread throughout the clear water, staining it a deep, vermilion color.

"Isn't this fun?" Dubont clapped her hands in delight. "Imagine, Annie! Twenty-two more!"

Johanna began to laugh, a strange, mad sound. "Push me in," she croaked out, her voice dry and raw. "Push me in if you dare, Peacekeeper. But you're a coward if you ask Annie to do it."

Annie turned to her. "What?" What was Johanna doing? Was she really stupid enough to think that if Annie or Dubont pushed her in now, the children would be spared?

"Too bad," Dubont laughed. "It can't be your choice, Johanna. It was Annie's, and she's already made her decision. So now, all but one of them will die."

"And if I were to push her in now?" Annie asked, her voice carefully calm.

"Well, we'd have to see about that, wouldn't we?" Dubont's eyes danced as her grin got larger and larger. "It all depends."

Annie's eyes met Johanna's, and at the same moment, they heard another scream from below. Two girls were dragged to the edge of the pool. There was the bright glare of a shiny knife, and then their heads disappeared from their bodies, sinking into the pool. The Peacekeepers were either emotionless or busy laughing, the two bodies pushed in the pool next to the first boy who had died.

Annie squeezed her eyes shut, but she knew that she shouldn't have. Not just because Dubont was staring at her, but because it brought to her mind's eye the unbidden memory of twelve-year-old Eliot Tristam, yelling at her to run even as he was decapitated. _Stop it, Annie_, she screamed at herself. _Stop it, stop it, stop it. Don't think about it._

"Do you remember, Annie?" Dubont was laughing again, obviously amused. "Do you remember the Arena? Do you-"

Johanna's brown eyes found Annie's. There was a slight nod of her head, and then Annie walked over, shoving Johanna so that the other Victor lost her footing, stumbling over the edge of the concrete and making her rapid descent into the water, propelled forward by the heavy weight of the chains that held her.

Annie didn't stop watching, chose to focus on Johanna finally land in the water with a loud splash and struggle fruitlessly as the chains brought her down, as she speedily sank below the surface. It was the only thing that she could do, because the alternative was to watch the source of the red blood that was slowly flowing all over the pool. She didn't want to look at the source of the terrified screams and shouts and the amused laughs of the Peacekeepers.

Finally, after about one and a half minute, there was a strange silence. Johanna was nothing but a mass of strange colors at the bottom of the brightly lit pool. Lights that illuminated the clear water now stained with crimson blood danced, beckoning anyone who was looking to jump in.

Annie let herself look, let her gaze switch from Johanna to the group of Peacekeepers. Only one person was left standing next to them - the little boy who had been fool enough to show any emotion, who had answered Dubont's question. He was trembling visibly, unable to stop shaking, his eyes attempting to wrench themselves away from the sight of the twenty-three other children.

Dubont nodded. "Now!" she called out to the Peacekeepers below.

The boy was yanked forward, shouting and crying his protest. Annie knew what was about to happen, but she couldn't take her eyes away from the scene unfolding before her. It was quick, just like the others. But they didn't decapitate him. No, they shoved him into the pool, practically kicking him with their boots, and then a round of gunfire went off as they shot at him and his struggling body stilled.

"Didn't you say that one of them could live?" Annie asked in a careful voice.

"We do things different in the Capitol, dear," Dubont laughed.

"So you do," Annie nodded before she ran to the edge of the concrete and jumped off, letting herself fall down into the pool below.

_Distant Past_

"Well, I guess we're here," Finnick said as he pulled up to Mags's house.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked. "Or we could just head over to your house and cram everything into the boxes and drive back to your old house, if you want."

He rose his eyebrows as he looked at her. "How'd you know?"

Annie laughed. "It was kind of obvious on what you were planning to do, Finnick."

"Are you sure you want to help me?" he asked. "I mean, I don't want-"

She gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm here, Finnick. You need me, and I'm here, because that's what best friends do. So drive."

And so he did.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

The force of the water from such a great leaping distance was like a bunch of slaps all over, but Annie ignored it and quickly glanced down below, looking for Johanna's form - there she was. As she made her descent, Annie could hear Dubont yelling at the other Peacekeepers. What the woman was hollering, Annie frankly couldn't care less about.

The water was mostly clear, but the red blood of the children was spilling all over the place, and their bodies were sinking to the bottom as well. She did her best to steer clear of them, and it wasn't a hard thing to do, since the majority of them were on her left. Still, she could see the dead faces paused in a scream of horror, or the decapitated heads. _Don't think about it_, Annie told herself. _Focus on finding Johanna_.

There. There she was. All the way at the bottom of the pool, struggling and screaming, air bubbles coming out from her mouth. Annie made her descent, letting herself travel downstairs, trying to find some solace in the strange humming of the water. Johanna had gone limp now. Shoot. They were supposed to be Victors. Why the hell was Johanna giving up so quickly? Faster and faster Annie went. _Twenty feet. Almost there, Annie. _Down, down, down. _Twenty-eight, twenty-nine... here we are. _

Annie's hands reached out to Johanna's shoulders, grasping at the chains that held her together. Annie pushed her feet against the bottom of the pool, and then she was hauling Johanna back up. Most people would say that it was no easy feat, but she was a Victor, and Career one at that. Besides, water was her element, and she'd had to retrieve much heavier weights from pools before. This was nothing new. The circumstances might be different, but it was all the same, so long as you subtracted the brutality of it all from the situation.

The moment that she broke above the surface, she could hear angered shouting. Annie ignored it all, and looked over at Johanna, who was finally unconscious.

"Idiot little bitch!" Dubont screamed as two of the Peacekeepers grabbed Annie and dragged her out of pool. Annie said nothing, resisted the urge to look back and make sure that Johanna was okay. "Wake the other one up!" Dubont was hollering.

Annie had missed the water. She'd missed swimming to the bottom, had missed Finnick diving in after her and chasing her as she swam away from him, laughing. Finnick. If she was-

"Bitch!" Dubont spat out as she slapped Annie across the face. "What on earth were you doing?"

Annie didn't flinch from the sting of the Peacekeeper's hand. Instead, she had a sudden, strong urge to laugh. This was all just so amusing. "You said you do things different in the Capitol, didn't you? Shouldn't you be able to understand that as Victors, we operate differently from the others?" _Shut up, Annie. Shut up, shut up, shut _up_, don't taunt her, it's only going to make it worse for both you and Johanna. Stop it. Stop talking. Just shut up. _

"If that's what you want," Dubont snarled, "that's what you'll get, you stupid bitch." She turned to the other Peacekeepers. "Change of plans! We're staying here!"

_Uh oh. Look at what you did now, Annie. Don't show any emotion, don't show any emotion, don't show-_

Annie was shoved roughly back into the pool, an unconscious Johanna dropping in beside her. She wasn't an idiot. She knew what they wanted. They wanted her to panic at the sight of the decapitated bodies that had been left in the pool, scream at the blood that was slowly staining the clear color of the pool into a vermillion color. Depending on how long they were in here, sooner or later, Johanna, not Annie, would begin to choke on the mixture of blood and pool water as she did her best to stay afloat.

"We'll see how you do in your natural element, Annie Cresta," Dubont laughed, a nasty smile on her face as metal panels began to slide up around the pool, enclosing the two Victors inside with no way out.

_Distant Past_

Finnick crossed his arms and swept his gaze from the night sky to Annie, who was busy piling some boxes into the trunk of his car. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and there were a few loose strands that he ached to tuck behind her ears. Finnick had a sudden urge to run his fingers through her hair, to comb it with his fingers. Her hair, which was such a beautiful exhibition of every type of brown there was, seemed to be calling out to him. Annie straightened as she slammed the trunk shut, and Finnick took in the rest of her form. Just a plain white t-shirt and faded black pants, but she was as beautiful as he'd ever seen her. She didn't even have to try, Annie. She just _was_.

"What are you thinking about?" Annie asked from a few feet away, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He must have been so immersed in his thoughts that he hadn't realized she was walking towards him. _"You"_ would sound too direct, even though it was the honest answer. "The sky is beautiful at night, isn't it?" Finnick blurted out.

Annie gave him a smile. "Yeah." She shot a look at the stack of books by his feet. "You want me to carry those?"

"No," he shook his head as he bent down and gathered the pile. "Sorry, I was just preoccupied-"

"It's okay, Finnick," she gave him a reassuring smile as they walked to the car. "Is that all that you need? Do you want to go back home now?"

Finnick nodded. "Yeah. Listen, I'll just drop you back home, and then I'll-"

"Finnick," Annie said, her voice firm, and he could tell that she was resisting the urge to sigh. "I'm here, you know."

"You don't have to be," he let out a breath.

"But I am," she crossed her arms defensively. "And you might think it's annoying as hell, but deal with it."

"I don't think you're annoying," Finnick frowned. "Is that what you think?"

"I don't know," Annie said, but there was a hint of strange amusement in her tone. "Why don't you prove otherwise to me?"

"Are you going to make it into a game now?" Finnick asked as he put the books in the backseat and shut the door as he turned to her, shaking his head as he smiled. "Me proving myself to you usually equals to me spending time with you, doesn't it?" he waggled his eyebrows. "Admit it. You just can't get your hands off of me, Miss Annie Cresta."

"Finnick," she rolled her eyes as she tried to hide her laugh. "You are so full of yourself. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do," he replied, winking at her as he opened the car door for her. "I _am_ Finnick Odair, after all."

When he got in from the other side, she gave his shoulder a playful shove. "You are really-"

"Can't hear you," Finnick sing-songed as he revved the key and the engine quietly purred to life.

There. He was slowly coming back to them. It wouldn't be a fast process, and she didn't expect it to be, but for right now, this happy Finnick was what she wanted. Annie smiled, laughing as they drove off into the night, the stars twinkling in the night sky above them, waving down to her and smiling at her and Finnick's sudden but welcome happiness.

_A Very Distant Past_

"Hi, guys!" Annie called out as she turned the key in the lock and closed the front door behind her. "I'm back!"

"Annie!" Parns came bounding out of the kitchen, clearly excited. "You're back!"

"She just said that, you moron," Delphi rolled her eyes as she came out after him. "Hi, Annie."

Annie frowned. "Don't say that to him, Delphi," she said.

Parns didn't seem to care, though. "You're back!" he shouted excitedly, hugging Annie tightly as he reached her. "You're back!"

"Yeah," she smiled, giving his back a few soft pats. "Why're you so excited?"

"It's dinner time!" he exclaimed as he drew back and pointed happily at the bag she had slung across her back. "Did we get some new cookies today?"

"Oh, I get it," Annie said, her voice teasing. "You only love me because I bring you food from Finnick. Would you rather he be your older sibling?"

"No!" Parns shouted, apparently taking what she had said very seriously. "Annie, that wasn't what I meant, I-"

Delphi let out a derisive snort of laughter, shaking her head in disbelief. "She was _joking_, Parns. A joke? Get it? Or are you too stupid to?"

"Oh," Parns said simply in a quiet voice, his face grimacing as his shoulders flinched. "Sorry, Annie."

"Don't be," she shook her head as she shot Delphi a look. "Hey. Why don't you go ahead to the kitchen with this bag?" Annie asked, handing it to him. "Delphi said she wanted some help on her history homework, so we'll be along in a minute, okay?"

"I did?" Delphi rose her eyebrows.

"Yes, you did," Annie snapped, her voice tight.

"I'm going to the kitchen," Parns sing-songed as he took the bag from his sister's hands, completely oblivious to the tension that was reverberating throughout the hall.

"Have fun!" Delphi called out as he practically skipped to the kitchen.

"What is wrong with you?" Annie hissed in a low voice.

"Nothing!" Delphi replied defensively.

"Then why are you acting this way to him?" Annie snapped. "It's not like he's done anything to you-"

"Look at the way he wants to be running after mom!" Delphi's voice rose. "He's going to get us all caught! _Then_ what are we going to end up with?"

"Delphi," Annie sighed. "He already promised that he wouldn't do anything, okay? Can you just lay off of him?"

"You know he's going to do something that's going to get us caught, don't you?" Delphi crossed her arms as she lowered her voice. "You have to know that, Annie."

"Delphi," Annie said in a tight voice. "Not now."

"Then when?" Delphi practically screamed. "Look, I wanted mom to come home as much as he did. I didn't get why you were so fixed on her not coming back. But I was at school today, and everyone talked about their parents, even if it was only for a sentence or two. If mom really cared about us, she would have been here for our first day of school. But she isn't, and you know what that means? That she doesn't care, and that she's not going to be coming back, ever. I don't know why Parns can't accept it. I don't-"

Annie put her hands on her sister's shoulders. "It's because he's young," she said in a soft voice. "He doesn't comprehend these things, and even if he does, he doesn't want to. Are you going to take that away from him, Delphi? Do you want him to be unhappy?"

"It seems kind of cruel to let him believe this sort of delusion," Delphi replied simply.

"It is," Annie admitted. "But it's better to have him believe that than to know the truth. Right now, anyway. So just lay off of him for now, okay? We'll deal with this later."

"Fine," Delphi sighed. "So," she said, fidgeting in her place, suddenly uncomfortable. "How was work?"

"It was okay," Annie answered.

"Just okay?" Delphi rose her eyebrows, their previous topic of conversation almost forgotten now.

"All right, it was pretty good," Annie admitted. "Happy now?"

"I think so," Delphi laughed. "How is Finnick?"

"He wants to know if the two of you want to go to training with him and his little sister this weekend," Annie said in a rush. "Saturday," she clarified.

Delphi let out an excited squee as she jumped up and down. "Yes! Oh, Annie, can I please go?"

Her older sister let out a laugh. "Of course."

Delphi let out a sudden groan. "Never mind," she said, letting out an annoyed sound as she put her face in her hands.

"What's wrong?" Annie frowned.

"Parns will want to go looking for mom, and now that you've told him he can only do Saturdays and Sundays, he's going to do just that. I know you won't let him go wandering off by himself."

"Well, we'll convince him," Annie said.

Delphi lowered her hands from her face, her eyebrows quirking. "Convince Parns? Yeah, right."

"We'll figure something out," Annie gave her sister's hand a squeeze as they headed into the kitchen.

_A Little While Ago_

"Annie," Finnick breathed out as he moved towards her, his fingers aching to reach out and touch her. And what was to stop him from doing that? Nothing. So that's what he did. Reached his right hand out and traced his fingers across her face, feeling.

Annie looked slightly startled at his touch, and her eyes widened. The fingers of her left hand reached out to feel her cheek in bewilderment, and she looked around her, her eyes looking at Finnick and yet not seeing him. His fingers laced through hers, firm, feeling.

Mags had said that there was no guarantee that Annie could see him. It was supposed to be a different way, she said. He could come to her in dreams, if he wanted. Annie could always see him there. But being able to see him in reality, and especially during the day, was a different trick. Even if she was in a torrent of grief, Annie would probably be oblivious to his presence.

Still, even with this knowledge, a pang ran through him. That he could be right here in front of her, but that she couldn't see him - it hurt. Still, he was being selfish. Although she couldn't see him, she'd certainly felt him, hadn't she? Why else were her fingers still grasped in his as she felt her face?

"Annie?" Enobaria asked, noticing the startled expression on Annie's face. "What's wrong?"

_Oh, not much, Enobaria. My husband died. So sorry you didn't notice that. _"Nothing," she frowned. "I thought I felt... never mind," she shook her head.

The other Victor rose her eyebrows. "What? What did you feel?"

"Excuse me," Annie said, abruptly pushing past her as she shook her head. "I apologize, Enobaria."

"It's okay," the older woman frowned. "What the hell?" she muttered to herself as she watched Annie walk away.

Annie made her way towards Gale and Johanna, who were apparently (and very suddenly so) on extremely good terms.

"... the entire part of the matter," Gale was saying.

Johanna let out a laugh. "That's pathetic, Hawthrone."

Gale looked offended. "What? I'll have you know that I was-"

"Johanna," Annie said, her voice urgent as she shot Gale an apologetic look. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I-"

The amusement on Johanna's face vanished once she took a look at Annie's stricken expression, which was contorted with a strange emotion. "No," she shook her head. "What is it?" Johanna asked as she took the other woman's hand and they began to walk away from Gale.

"Sorry," Annie mouthed as she turned her head back and looked at Gale.

Gale shook his head. "No problem," he mouthed back as he watched the two of them leave. It was kind of amusing how Johanna could be laughing with him about District 2 one minute and then completely forgetting about him the next, not even sparing him a second glance as she walked away with Annie. It was like a flip of a switch. Laughter and joking one minute, seriousness and caring the next. It was obvious that Johanna didn't care about a lot of people, and that Annie was probably one of a handful of those who actually mattered to Johanna, but it did show that she actually had emotion. Huh. So she wasn't a crazy psycho bitch after all. Well. Wasn't that something?


	10. Part X: We're Stuck Here

A/N: Sorry for these less frequent updates, school is busy busy busy and I have been MIA and sick this week, so apologies!

That being said, thank you so much to everyone new who added this to their story alerts and favorites, or added me to their author alerts and favorites! Thank you so much! To everyone who continues to read and support this story even though I'm terrible at updating on-time, thank you! To SQUISHPIE, RedHazelDoor, Annony, KCerena, Elle, Beth, noname, and chocolateluvr13: thank you so much, you guys! Your feedback really does mean a lot!

On to part ten! I hope you guys enjoy, and, as always, your feedback would be very much appreciated! (:

Part X: We're Stuck Here

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Johanna wasn't sure what was real and what was a nightmare anymore. She woke up from her dreams, or it seemed that she did, but what she opened her eyes to was often much worse than her supposed nightmares.

Like now. She'd let Annie shove her to the bottom of the pool, had felt herself be propelled forwards even as she screamed hopelessly and struggled against the water. Water was all over, everywhere, and she'd somehow lost consciousness. It felt like someone had been hauling her up, but she had been too far out of it to care at that point. Peacekeepers had been trying to wake her up afterwards so that they could throttle her some more, but Johanna didn't even have the strength to fight back and punch them in the face or whip their asses. She was just so tired. So very, very tired.

It seemed as though she were floating. Bobbing up and down, occasionally sinking a little further, but always being jerked back up. What was she in? Some sort of liquid? Water. It had to be. Johanna began to panic as she came to this realization, her eyes opening. She let out a hoarse shout as she saw that she was indeed entrapped in a pool of water that seemed to be stained a strange red.

There was a familiar figure next to her whose head was turned away, the figure's hands loosely holding onto Johanna's chains, keeping her afloat. At the sound of Johanna's shout, the person turned, and the curtain of dark brown that had shielded their face from her seemed to swoosh around. A pair of sea green eyes met hers, and Johanna blurted out, confused, "Annie?"

"Johanna," the other Victor said, the relief evident in her voice. "You're awake."

"Where are we?" Johanna asked, doing her best to stare up at the ceiling that seemed to be so far above them.

"The same place," Annie replied.

Johanna grimaced. "So it's not a dream?"

"No," Annie shook her head.

Neither of them said anything for a long while. Annie simply held on to Johanna's chains and kept the other Victor up above the water. This was no easy feat, Johanna knew, despite the fact that Annie made it seem like nothing - like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Johanna was sure that she was beginning to go a little bit mad, if she hadn't already. The longer she stayed imprisoned in the Capitol, the more she'd become insane. "Annie?" she asked.

The other young woman turned to her, her face expressionless. "What?"

"What's it like?" she asked. "To go mad?"

Annie let out a strange laugh. "I suppose only you would ask a question like that when we're in a situation such as this one."

True enough. "How do you know, Annie? That you're going mad?"

Annie let out a weary sigh, one that was tired and seemed to know too much. "You feel it, Johanna. Can you feel it going through your veins? The madness? Can you no longer separate dreams and reality? Are you beginning to forget names and places - things that used to be important to you?"

Johanna didn't answer her questions directly. "I think I'd rather be mad than know what was going on, especially since we're here."

Annie laughed again. "No, you wouldn't."

Johanna frowned. "I-"

"You wouldn't," Annie sighed tiredly, and Johanna knew that Annie was thinking about herself and what she had been (or rather, what she hadn't been), those first few years after her Games. Most sensible people who met her now would think her more unstable than insane, but Johanna knew that there really had been a time when Annie had been truly, completely mad.

_A Very Distant Past_

"You're here," Finnick laughed as Annie walked up to him.

"That's what you said five minutes ago when you saw me," she said matter-of-factly.

He laughed. "You, my good friend, are-"

"Oh, so we're good friends now?" Annie rose her eyebrows as they began to walk their walk to the ocean, which was soon to become a routine. "I wasn't aware of that."

Finnick let out a dramatic sigh as he put a hand over his heart. "So all of those summer days meant nothing to you? I'm heartbroken, Annie."

Annie gave him a light punch on the shoulder as she rolled her eyes. "Fine. We're sort-of-but-not-really good friends. Happy?"

"Yes, but - ow," he said, rubbing his shoulder. "That hurt." Actually, it hadn't.

"You are such a baby," she rolled her eyes in amusement. "That wasn't even enough to hurt a fly."

Finnick shoved his hands inside the depths of his trousers. "Oh, you'd be surprised."

Annie laughed. "By the way, Delphi wants to come this Saturday. Parns is still in debate over it, but he'll probably end up going with you guys."

He nodded. "As expected. I'll tell Pisca." Finnick smiled at her for a brief moment before his lips twisted into a frown. "Wait, you're not coming?"

"I don't really feel like training this weekend," she gave a shrug of her shoulders, trying to make her voice sound as casual as possible. "Thanks for the offer, though."

Finnick let out a sigh. "You mean 'I need to work because my mom refuses to'?"

"Finnick," Annie said in a tight voice. "It's none of your business."

"Look, do you want to come to training or not?" Finnick asked, his voice intent.

She gave him a look. "Finnick, it really isn't your business if I choose to-"

"I'm just trying to be a good friend!" he practically snapped. "Sorry if you don't like people being concerned about you, but that's what friends do, you know."

Annie could see that he really did mean what he was saying, and she supposed that he was right, in a sense. A bond of friendship had grown between them over the summer, and that he would be worried about her shouldn't surprise her so much or put her on the defensive as much as it did. Her voice softened slightly. "Thanks, Finnick. But I'm okay. Really."

"No, you're not," he shook his head.

"Not what?" she shot him a look.

"Okay," Finnick clarified.

He was right about that, Annie supposed.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait?" Gale asked in a loud whisper.

"It depends," Prim whispered back. "He sleeps for a very long time, you know."

"I don't blame him," Katniss said as she looked at the figure on the bed, who was stirring restlessly in his sleep, murmuring Annie's name over and over again. Sweat lined his forehead, and even in the state of distress that he was in, Finnick's beauty was not marred. He was the same, still as gorgeous ever, still looking every bit as dangerous - perhaps even more so now that he appeared to be so unstable.

"Shouldn't he be awake?" Gale frowned. "I mean, if he has so many nightmares?" From a logical standpoint, that made sense. Why stay asleep when nightmares ate away at you? Staying awake should have been a better alternative.

"Why don't you give him any morphling?" Katniss asked her little sister.

Prim shot them both a long look. "We did, at first. But he's stopped taking it."

Katniss finally understood. To most people, it would seem illogical. Why _not_ take something that could dull the pain? But Finnick was so much like her in this aspect, and he would probably wish to feel every bit of pain, live through each nightmare, than to feel nothing at all. It was his way of punishing himself for allowing Annie to get taken away by the Capitol, for whatever it was that he thought he had done wrong.

And if that was what he was doing, then there was nothing wrong with it, nothing wrong at all. Some might call it masochistic, but what other way was there to live? The nightmares were always there when he woke up anyway, so why not just let it become his reality for each and every minute?

Besides, who was to say that all of these things that he dreamt were nightmares? Some of them might be happy memories. Few and far between, sure, but Katniss was certain that they were there, waiting. Waiting to be brought out and relived in Finnick's mind like the days that they had happened, every happy moment of his life being brought to reality in a time that was so dire and bleak and barely had any hope.

_Distant Past_

Finnick lay sprawled out on the couch, his eyes squeezed shut as he rubbed his fingers in a circular motion over his temple. He could hear Annie's voice down the hall as she talked to someone at the front door in a low, hushed voice.

Annie. What would she do when she learned the truth? Would she run and hide from him? Would she scream at him? Would she look at him with pity? Pity was the one thing that he could not take. Anger, yes. But not pity. Pity was the worst thing, the one that Finnick hated the most above all others, the one emotion that made him want to look the other way and run away as quickly as he could.

It was because he was just such a proud person when it came to things such as this, Finnick Odair. Pride about these things was part of his undoing - pride and love. It was such a human thing, to let yourself-

He could hear Annie walking into the room, and Finnick's eyes slowly opened, taking in everything around him. The shadows and darkness of the room, the way that a few stray curls were hanging from the side of Annie's face as she leaned down and hovered above him, pressing her hand to his forehead, checking to see if he was going to come down with a fever.

Finnick sat up and encircled his fingers gently around her wrist, and Annie sat down on the couch beside him as he moved his legs to make room for her. "Who was it?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Mags," she replied.

"Mags?" he rose his eyebrows. "I thought she said she was at the Mayor's tonight?"

"That's what I thought," Annie nodded, her hand still pressed to his forehead, his fingers still wrapped around her wrist. "But she said that she wanted me to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" Finnick frowned as his free hand tucked the loose tendrils behind her right ear.

"'They'll come for you even if you hide, because the first drops of winter always come the fastest'," Annie said slowly, as though she were trying to figure it out. "She said that a friend of the snowman told her to tell you this, because almonds will shatter if she doesn't do it herself."

Finnick froze, because he knew exactly what the words meant. He would always be a slave bought and sold in the Capitol if he wanted Annie and Mags to live and remain unharmed. This much was clear enough. 'The first drops of winter' translated to President Snow, because he would be the first one to strike back, and the punishment would be swift and brutal. 'A friend of the snowman' was obviously someone close to Snow who had been chosen to hand-deliver the message to Mags. 'Almonds will shatter' was Mags herself. If she didn't do as Snow said and give Finnick this message, she would be harmed. Finnick knew that Mags would have refused to do it, but he was sure that they had threatened her - with what? Harm coming to both Finnick and Annie?

"Finnick?" Annie asked, her eyes worried and her voice full of concern.

Finnick lowered his hand from her forehead and looked at her, this young woman in front of him who he couldn't bear to lose. She was his everything, and she would always be his everything. Things between them now might be okay, but there were things that he couldn't tell her, not without jeopardizing her, not without making her look at him with pity.

"Promise me something," he said in a low voice.

She gave him a slow nod. "What is it?"

"No matter what happens..." Finnick struggled to find the right words to say, because how could he tell her that he was going to change without making it obvious? He couldn't, he realized. There was no way for him to say it without her knowing. So he settled with something that he knew she would remember when the time finally came, something that would make her wonder what his words now had meant. "Promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what you think I'm doing, no matter how mad you are at me, that you'll think of now. Promise me that you'll tell yourself not everything is what it looks like." His hands were gripped tightly in hers, as though holding on to them would make her understand.

Annie was silent, her sea green eyes peering into his, asking what her mouth would not.

"Promise me," he said, his voice low and urgent as his right hand caressed her cheek.

"I promise," she murmured, and he knew that she would remember this.

Finnick leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, leaving an indentation of himself on her, wishing that they could stay here for the rest of their lives.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

_Finnick was walking on the beach, his feet bare. He could feel the warm sand underneath this toes, could taste the smell of salt in the air, could feel the wind whipping against his face, could hear the waves crashing just a few steps away from him._

_He had the feeling that he had been walking for a long time, but how he knew this, he couldn't quite say. You always just sort of knew things like this in dreams, and never questioned why. _

_In the distance, he could make out a familiar figure whose face was hidden from him, cloaked by her flow of long hair that was busy flowing with the wind. But Finnick would know that figure anywhere. "Annie!" he shouted, breaking into a run as he hurried towards her. _

_Annie looked up for a brief moment, laughing when she saw him. The next moment, however, she had turned her head back to the sand, her fingers tracing at it. _

_Finnick noticed that although the ocean waves seemed to be washing up and cleaning out the sand every now and then, the place where Annie was busy tracing her design was left untouched. Such was the strangeness of dreams, he supposed. _

_"What are you doing?" he asked as he knelt down beside her. _

_A splash of saltwater hit his face as Annie laughed. "No peeking, Finnick," she sing-songed. _

_"Annie!" he exclaimed as he blinked, shaking his head to get the water that she had thrown at him off of his face. _

"He's smiling," Katniss noted as she looked at the figure on the bed, who had stopped twitching.

"You noticed," Prim replied. There was a short pause, and then she added, "It doesn't last, you know."

"What?" Katniss asked.

"The smiling, I'll bet," Gale answered for her little sister.

Prim nodded. "Don't wake him up, though. Not now. He'll probably throttle you if you do."

"Is that what you did?" Gale asked in an amused voice as he shook his head. "Did you wake him up when he was reliving a happy memory?"

Prim made a face at him. "Do I look like an idiot?"

Gale laughed. "I wasn't saying that."

"It was one of the new nurses," Prim clarified. "Lucia, I think."

"What did he do? Choke her?" Gale rose his eyebrows.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Katniss said as she leaned back and let out a tired breath.

"Actually, he did," Prim said in a casual voice.

She remembered that day. Finnick was smiling in his sleep, and she had been marveling over how at peace he looked when he was both asleep and smiling - a happy Finnick Odair was something that she hadn't been sure she would ever see. His sleep was usually restless, but every few hours, he would smile, and it was so genuine that it made her feel strangely affected. Finnick Odair with a genuine smile was such a rare thing, and even though it was only when he was asleep, it made him seem so much younger, like the boy that he used to be.

Lucia was still new, just like she was now, and at first, Prim wasn't sure why they'd sent her in. She'd realized that Lucia had convinced one of her friends to trade shifts with her so that she could get a look at Finnick Odair. It wasn't uncommon, and Prim had noticed it. Girls and women all trying to sneak in so that they could get a look at Finnick Odair, as though seeing him on the television screen wasn't enough for them.

Not that anyone had paid any attention to it except for her mother, who had asked for stricter enforcement. But Finnick was still in intensive care, and that wasn't exactly her jurisdiction right now. Add to the fact that her mother had yet to earn the respect of everyone, so her complaint went ignored by those in charge. Until Lucia came along, that is. Then they began to take things a little more seriously.

It had been early in the morning - around two o'clock - and Prim was busy studying Finnick's sleeping patterns. Everyone had asked her why she was doing it, but if she was going to be a doctor, Prim knew that she had to know each and every detail about her patients. Besides, Finnick was fascinating enough as it was, and her family was either busy attending to other patients or in the hospital as well, so Prim really had nothing else to do.

Lucia had wandered in, clearly not knowing what the correct procedures for Finnick were. Prim had been sure from the look of curiosity on her face and the scribbling on the girl's name tag that she was not supposed to be here, and she'd said so.

"And who are you?" Lucia had sneered.

"I'm his therapist, and you would know that if you were supposed to be here, which you obviously aren't," Prim had snapped. "So get out."

Lucia had laughed, as though that would answer everything. "Let's see about that," she'd said, and then she'd moved towards Finnick's sleeping form, a figure on the bed that was murmuring and smiling.

Prim didn't know what exactly would happen if someone were to wake Finnick up (the notes she had been given only said 'violent reaction' and didn't offer any further details), although she had a feeling that it wouldn't be pretty. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Lucia evidently thought that this was some sort of taunt. "You don't tell me what to do, you stupid kid." She was shaking Finnick lightly now, an expression of great interest on her face. "Are you Finnick?" she was asking. "Is it true that this little kid here is your therapist? Is it-"

All that Prim knew was that one minute, Finnick was sleeping soundly and Lucia was trying to wake him up, and the next minute, Finnick had the arrogant older girl slammed against the wall. It was such a fast blur that if she hadn't been watching, she wouldn't have been too sure of what had happened in those few moments. The fingers of Finnick's right hand wrapped around Lucia's throat, and then his green eyes had fluttered open and he seemed to awaken, almost lazily so. He sat up, the distorted blanket falling to the floor, and then he was out of bed and slamming Lucia against the wall, his fingers gripping even harder around her throat as he squeezed, not letting go.

Lucia was trying to say something, but she couldn't. Her arms just sort of flapped around like a toy that had run out of batteries, and Prim couldn't help but stare at it all with a sort of fascinated horror. Then, she realized that she was just sitting here letting Finnick choke someone to death. "Finnick!" she shouted as she got out of her chair and ran forward. "Finnick, let her go!"

Finnick didn't seem to be aware of anything, didn't seem to be focusing on anything but the figure in front of him who had interrupted his sleep. He had no idea who this person was. Seeing as he had just exited a dream state, Prim knew that he probably thought Lucia was some Capitol person who posed a threat to him. The mind of Victors seemed to work that way. It was all about survival, all about staying alive. "What have you done?" he was shouting angrily at Lucia. "What did you do to them?"

"Finnick, let go of her!" Prim had reached them now, and she could see that Lucia's eyes were wide with fright and that the girl was going to pass out and possibly die if Finnick didn't stop what he was doing. "Finnick, you're choking her, let go-"

He turned to her, and his eyes were wild and unseeing for a few moments before recognition flickered. "Prim?" he asked in a puzzled voice, although she could see that his fingers did not loosen their hold on Lucia. "What?"

"We're in District 13, Finnick," Prim said, not sure what the exact protocol for this sort of situation was. "Not the Capitol. It's okay, Finnick. Let her go."

Finnick's gaze reverted back to Lucia, and he frowned. "Oh," he said simply. He blinked. "Funny."

Prim opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, Finnick let go of Lucia and the girl fell to a heap on the ground, a strange collapsing sound.

It was at this moment that Falliana had rushed in, alerted by the fact that Finnick's tubes had been ripped off of his arms when he had gotten out of bed. "What's going on?" she breathed out as she took in the scene before her, her eyes observing the crumpled figure on the floor.

"This is what happens when unauthorized fangirls come walking in here," Prim stepped forward, her voice low and angry.

Falliana looked taken aback - at the sudden disappearance of Prim's usual sweetness and kind disposition, at Lucia's unconscious form, and at the simple rise of Finnick's eyebrows.

"What happened?" the doctor asked.

"Well, Lucia here came walking in, and I told her that she wasn't supposed to be here."

"Do you know that for a fact?" Falliana frowned.

Prim crossed her arms defensively. "I know for a fact that anyone with a dreamy fangirl expression on her face doesn't belong in here."

Falliana gave a wave of her hand. "Go on."

"She ignored me, walked to the bed, and tried to wake Finnick up," Prim finished.

"I'm supposing that's why this," Falliana gestured at the unconscious body on the tile floor, "is here."

Finnick's eyebrows rose even higher on his forehead. Interesting that Falliana should refer to this Lucia person as a 'this'. If anything, it showed that she was in agreement with Prim that Lucia was nothing but a stupid, foolish girl who shouldn't have been in here.

"Finnick?" Falliana asked, her voice gentle. He knew what she wanted. An explanation. And if he wasn't going to give it to her, Falliana wouldn't mind, either. It was his choice.

"It's so dark in here," he began simply. "Do you know what it's like in the Capitol and they make you do things you don't want to? It's dark."

Neither of them interrupted him, because they knew that he had more to say.

"Do you know what it's like to be reliving one of the happiest memories of your life, and then to be yanked away from it?" he asked. "It happened in the Capitol all the time," Finnick went on. "It always did."

"It's only natural, Finnick," Falliana said, and he knew that she believed him. Why wouldn't she? He was a patient, and she was a doctor who actually cared about her patients and their well-being. He remembered some time ago, during a patient and doctor session when he'd been half-asleep, Falliana had told him that she came from the Capitol and that she knew what had been done to him and some of the other Victors. When she'd told him that, he had been more relieved than anything. It meant that she really did understand him more than the others did. Not fully, because only Annie knew every last thing about him. But she knew him better than the others, and that was alright with him.

_A Little While Ago_

"What's going on?" Johanna asked as they walked away from Gale. "Annie, what's wrong?"

They stopped at the empty end of the corridor, where they would be provided plenty of privacy. "Look, you're going to think that I'm crazy," Annie began.

"No, I'm not," Johanna shook her head, reaching for Annie's hands, which were surprisingly cold. "Just tell me."

A torn look flitted across Annie's face before she said, "I felt something, Johanna."

"Something?" Johanna rose her eyebrows, asking for clarification.

"Like a hand," Annie said. "Like fingers."

Normally, Johanna would have made some sexual reference, but this was not a normal circumstance, and Annie was in no state to be joked to right now. "Finnick, you mean?"

Annie nodded, and Johanna knew that the fact that she wasn't using an innuendo hadn't escape the other Victor. "Finnick."

"How do you know it was him?" Johanna questioned.

Annie gave her a sad smile. "He used to touch my cheek just like that, did you know? Then he'd kiss me on the forehead and say goodbye."

"But you're sure that it was Finnick?" Johanna asked.

Annie sighed. "I don't expect you to believe me, Johanna. And I would have said that what I felt was just a gust of wind or some air, but wind and air doesn't brush against your cheek for that long or touch you the way that the person you lost used to touch you. It just doesn't."

"I believe you," Johanna said. "After Isthrial died, I thought - I _knew - _that I felt him, too. Everyone thought I was crazy, but-"

"But you weren't," Annie finished for her.

"No," Johanna shook her head. "So I don't think that you're crazy, either."

Annie let out a strange laugh. "How long does it last, Johanna?"

Johanna didn't need her to clarify to know what Annie was talking about. How much longer would Finnick linger here for? Johanna knew that she had stopped feeling Isthrial's presence years ago. "I think it depends on the person, Annie, and if they want to believe or not."

Annie didn't reply, simply bit her lip and rocked her feet where she stood. Then she whispered, "I wish he would stay with me until I die and even after that, Johanna. That's what he promised me."


	11. Part XI: When You Are Wishing On A F

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading this story despite the lack of frequent updates! You guys are all so amazing! (: To noname, RedHazelDoor, RiverOtter1, SQUISHPIE, Annony, Beth, and riko: I have the best reviewers / feedback-ers ever, I believe. (: Thank you so much! For new readers who are adding this to their alerts and favorites, thank you as well!

Now, on to the chappie! Leaving a review / feedback does equal happy Ellyce and would be, as always, lovely and very much appreciated! (:

Part XI: When You (Are) Wish(ing) On A Falling Star

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

_Every now and then, Annie would flick saltwater that she seemed to have a steady supply of at Finnick, just to make sure that he wasn't peeking at the design that she was making. He laughed and ran out to the ocean, the crashing waves calling out to him. He gathered some water in his hands, and he hurried back to Annie, who was laughing and still working on whatever it was that she was drawing in the sand. _

_"Annie," he said. _

_She turned to look at him after a few moments, a bright smile on her face, one so happy that it made him ache. "What is it, Finnick?" _

_He sat down, crossing his legs, and then he flicked a few drops of water at her face. _

_"Finnick!" she exclaimed, laughing once more, her design now forgotten as she blinked. _

_He was close to her now, so close. The wind whipped around them and made her hair fan out all over, and it was so beautiful. Finnick was moving forward on his knees, not knowing and not caring that the sand was dirtying up the knees of his pants. He brushed her hair back from her face, holding the strands back with his hands as his eyes searched hers. They'd both stopped laughing now, and a different sort of mood had settled in the air. _

_Finnick closed the distance between them, and his lips were pressed against hers - tasting, wanting, slow. Annie's back hit the sand, a gentle sound, and Finnick hovered above her as her hands ran up and down his back, feeling his shoulder blades and spine. She tasted like salt and lemon tea and sugar cubes all at once, and the smell on her wasn't like the reeking perfume that the Capitol women had - no, it was a smell that was distinctly her own, just Annie's natural scent of something similar to black currant. She felt so warm beneath him, and he was running his hands through her hair as he focused on the feel of her lips, wanting something that was just within his reach. _

_Annie's hands were fisted in his hair, her fingers running through the bronze color, and just having her fingers on him drove him a little crazy. He'd never felt like this with anyone else, never felt something like this giddy rush that went through him and filled him up like it did with Annie. Just having her look at him, knowing that she was smiling and laughing just because of him, that she was holding his hand - it was the little things that seemed inconsequential and routine that really meant so much. _

_They were both breathing heavily now, desire and bliss mixed together as one emotion, her hands moving beneath his shirt and feeling the muscles of his back as his lips moved left to right on her left clavicle. _

_There was a loud crashing noise, like a gunshot, and Finnick shot straight up, his eyes darting around as he tried to pinpoint the source of the noise. _

_Annie still lay with her back on the sand, a strange smile on her face. "Finnick," she said simply. "Finnick." _

_"What is it?" his gaze swung back to her, and his eyes swept over her, taking in her tangled hair and now-messy clothes, observing the flush of her face. _

_She turned her head to the left and lay her arm out. "Look," she said. _

_Finnick followed the path of her eyes and saw what she had carved in the sand with her fingers. 'GOODBYE,' and beneath that, the shape of a heart with the initials 'F.O. + A.C.' written inside. "Annie," he murmured as he swung his gaze back to her. "Annie, what do you mean by goodbye?" _

_"They took me away, Finnick," she said. "But it's okay. I'll fight back - you know that, don't you?" _

_"Annie," Finnick moved so that he was hovering over her, as though his body was a shield that could protect her from whatever it was that wanted to come and snatch her away or already had. "Annie, I know-" _

_The ocean wave washed ashore once more, this time much stronger than it had been before, sweeping over them and soaking them both entirely, water and salt raining down on them. _

_Then it was gone, and with it, Annie. She was no longer beneath him, no longer smiling and tasting his skin. In her place was the message that she had drawn out for him in the stand, each word filling with water. The water in the heart was bursting out, as though it was some sort of fountain, and Finnick took a step towards it before the ocean wave came crashing once more and Annie reappeared, standing a distance away from him. She was wearing a light green dress and standing very still, her hair fanning out around her and her dress billowing with the wind. _

_"Annie!" Finnick shouted as he moved towards her, the ocean waves propelling him forward, as though they wanted him to be with her. "Annie!" _

_His clothes seemed to be dragging him down, as though all of the water that had seeped in had suddenly become some sort of extra heavy weight that he had to carry around. But things were never physically heavy to Finnick, and he couldn't understand why his drenched clothes were dragging him down. _

_Finnick pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground, letting the ocean wash it away as his feet carried him closer and closer to Annie, who was suddenly standing on a large rock. She was shouting something at him, but for some reason, he could hear nothing but himself. Not the sound of the ocean crashing, not the sound of Annie's shouts, nothing but the sounds of his own breathing. He read her lips instead, because he was so used to doing that, had learned how to do it when they were young and mastered it after she came back from her Games. "Run!" she was shouting. "Leave!" _

_He ran faster now, and then there was a loud keening noise that made him sink to his knees and clutch at his ears, a wailing shriek that sounded metal and inhuman, like nails scratching against some sort of steel magnified five thousand times. _

_When he managed to look up, he heard laughing all around him, and he saw that not only was Annie standing in front of him, blood was everywhere. It ran out of Annie's ears, down her nose, poured out from her mouth, leaked out of her eyes, came out in drops from her fingernails and toenails. "Annie!" Finnick shouted, and then he was choking on his own blood. _

_"Hello, Finnick," said one of the voices that he dreaded most in the world. "Look up." _

_When he did, he saw that President Snow stood behind Annie. "Run," Finnick whispered, the blood running down his chin as he began to cough it all out. "Annie, _run_." _

_"Are you going to tell everyone about the blood?" Snow asked. He licked his lips, which were dripping with blood. _

_Finnick ignored him. Was that why blood was everywhere? Because Snow was here? "Annie," he whispered. "Run." It seemed to be the only two words that he could say. _

_"They're going to take me away, Finnick," Annie spoke in a calm voice. "But I'll come back." _

_"Annie!" Finnick shouted. "Run!" _

_Snow laughed, clearly amused by the scene going on in front of him. "Goodbye, Finnick Odair," he sing-songed. "Say your last farewell to your lover." _

_The world seemed to swerve as he blinked, and he could hear people screaming in pain - his siblings, his parents, Aunt Capet, Mags, Johanna, little Eliot Tristam - and then Annie and the President were gone, nothing to indicate that they had been there except for the large puddle of blood on the black rock. _

_The ocean had turned a scarlet color, and although Finnick knew that it was blood, he didn't care. Annie was gone, and they were going to torture her and make her witness things that would make her scream and cry and retreat inside herself. Finnick let out a guttural cry, screaming her name over and over again, shouting her name as though it was something that would allow her to forgive him, yelling as the blood ran out of his mouth and flowed all around him. "Annie! Annie! _Annie_!" _

_He was rolling around on the floor, shouting and shouting, and then his head hit the rock that Annie had been standing on. There was a strange white light above him, and Finnick was still screaming, and then-_

"Annie!" Finnick shouted as he shot forward, gasping as he woke up. "Annie!"

"It's okay, Finnick," said a reassuring voice from beside him, a voice whose hands were reaching out for his left shoulder. "It's okay."

Finnick kept on screaming for Annie, and the voice and hand kept on yelling and gripping his shoulder, shouting at him that it was alright, that everything was okay now.

_A Very Distant Past_

"So how come your sister didn't want to come with us to Training today?" Finnick asked as Delphi sharpened the tip of her blade.

Delphi didn't stop, but the rate at which she was sharpening her sword slowed down. "What?"

"Annie," Finnick clarified, taking in the tension of Delphi's shoulders.

"Annie's really nice," Pisca piped up from beside him, a frown on her face as she looked at the net she was busy weaving. "Shoot. I got this last part tangled up."

"She doesn't really feel like coming," Delphi said in an unusually cheery voice.

"How about I ask her to come next week, then?" Finnick gave her what he thought was a kind smile.

If anything, it made Delphi tighten up even more. "You do that," she said in a strange voice.

"Pisca, can you go ask Aunt Capet what kind of material is best for warm weather?" Finnick asked.

His sister frowned at the strangeness of the question, but nodded and ran off, leaving her net unfinished. Finnick and Delphi watched her leave, Finnick turning his head over his shoulder just to make sure.

"Delphi," Finnick said once his sister was a safe distance away. "What's going on at home?"

"What makes you think anything is going on?" she asked in a voice that was much too high-pitched. Squeaky, sort of. Delphi never spoke in this sort of tone.

"You know that I'll never do anything to jeopardize your family, right?" Finnick asked her.

"Of course," Delphi replied, her voice tight.

"So you can tell me," Finnick delivered them slowly, trying to put as much emphasis on his words as possible.

Delphi let out an amused laugh. "Did you try this on Annie, too?"

"What?" he frowned.

"The whole 'you-can-trust-me-so-I'll-persuade-you' thing."

"It's not like I'm your enemy," Finnick rose his eyebrows.

"Well, it's none of your business, Finnick," Delphi sighed, one that made her sound so tired and so much older than her years. "Okay?"

"I'm going to find out, you know," Finnick said.

"It's none of your business, Finnick," Delphi snapped.

"The hell it is," he muttered angrily. "You're my friend, Annie's my friend, Parnassus is Pisca and Sesser's friend - you think that I'm just going to stand by and let life shoot you guys down?'

Delphi opened her mouth to speak, but Pisca came running back at this moment, her face beaming despite the fact that she was out of breath. "You're really stupid, Finnick!" she sing-songed.

"What? Why?" he demanded teasingly, pretending to be affronted.

Delphi's eyes met Finnick's, neither of their gazes wavering. Annie's little sister gave a slight nod of her head, and then she looked away, out at the brightly lit pool that beckoned them all to jump in.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

"How much longer do you think they're going to keep us here for?" Johanna asked, looking up at the ceiling that was so high up, wondering if she could somehow turn into a bird and fly out of this place.

"It depends," Annie answered. "Probably when they've had enough fun watching us."

"You mean when we go into panic attacks and start crying or some shit like that?" Johanna let out a bitter laugh.

Annie shot her a strange smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Something like that."

Johanna knew that the time would come soon enough. Either she would succumb to the water around her and be busy shrieking and crying, or Annie would be affected by the blood all over the pool and the severed heads and bodies of the boys and girls. It was unnatural that those bodies had begun to float back up one by one, but Johanna was certain that it was some sort of Capitol trick or manipulation.

That was what they wanted, wasn't it? To make Annie surrounded by decapitated forms and then to retreat inside herself, scared and unstable and unable to think. They knew that decapitation was the worst thing for her, the one thing that had set her off and made her go insane for a few years, and that was what they were going to use against her.

"Talk to me," Johanna said, not knowing what exactly she was doing, only hoping that the both of them would be distracted enough not to think about certain things and give the Capitol what they wanted.

Annie let out a tired breath. Not one from holding Johanna up, but one that indicated life was one big mess that was going to take another fall whenever you made an unexpected turn. "Do you remember Eliot Tristam?" she asked, and she sounded so much older than she was.

"That little scrap of a boy?" Johanna rose her eyebrows and let out a laugh. "Yeah, I remember him." How could she not? The little boy Tribute from 4, the one who was always smiling and laughing - such an innocent thing.

"Do you remember the Arena?" Annie asked. "Do you remember the year you won?"

"That was years ago," Johanna let out a whimsical sigh. "But yeah, I remember it."

A nostalgic smile spread across Annie's face, and it looked as though she had momentarily forgotten about the Tristam boy. "I'm sure you remember your Victory Tour."

"District 4 was my favorite part," Johanna winked at her.

Annie laughed.

_Distant Past_

"Do we really have to be here?" Pisca whined. "I mean, what's so great about this girl?"

"We're a Victor family, Pisca," Aunt Capet replied for the hundredth time. "And since our illustrious Finnick won just last year, it'd be weird if he didn't show up, would it not? Seeing as you two are his siblings, do I really have to remind you that you sort of have to be here?"

"Do you want to be here?" Pisca turned to her oldest brother, her voice pleading. "I don't want to be here."

Finnick gave a shrug of his shoulders, because this was just another routine that he was used to. They'd been doing this for years now, and this just happened to be one of the few years that his sister found the latest Victor irritating. "It's not that bad, Pisca. We just have to listen to her talk for who knows how long, and then-"

"She'll be really boring," Sesser said, an uninterested look on his face.

"It's a party!" Carib, Johanna's stylist, tittered as she leaned forward to join the conversation. "Don't you just love celebrations, Pisca?"

"Yeah, a party for a wimp," Pisca rolled her eyes. Sesser attempted to cover his laugh with a snort.

Carib rose her eyebrows and had a perplexed look on her face. Clearly, she didn't quite understand the viewpoint of District 4. This was a Career District, and they won because they were fast and strong and smart, because they were brutal and violent and ruthless, and because once in a while, they always added a bit of cunning to the mix. But the one thing that Careers hated were people who won the easy way out. And what was Johanna Mason if not a cheater? True, she had proved that she could kill, but the way that she'd done it was just so... boring. She'd been thinking strategy, but to the Careers, strategy was nine parts your speed and skill with weapons and one part tactic. Careers didn't rely on six parts tactic and four parts your ability to kill like Johanna Mason had.

If Carib could understand that, then she could understand why Pisca and Sesser were so hostile to the idea of Johanna being in their District.

"What do you think, Annie?" Capet asked.

Annie didn't mind Johanna Mason, actually. She thought that what the girl had done was clever. Maybe that was why a lot of people in District 4 talked about Johanna as though she were inferior - because she'd relied on her mind's strategies more than her battle and fighting skills. And if it took the focus away from Johanna, then so much the better, right? It wasn't as though the girl was from a Career District, so what did she have to rely on? The way that she bashed her opponents' heads in with an axe? That murderous and violent persona might fit in for her if she was a Career girl, but she wasn't. She was just some nobody from District 7 - before she won, that is. But Johanna didn't have the look of a violent, pondering murderer that some of the other District girls could pull off. She looked like a lost, forgettable girl from the lumbering district. "I don't think she's that bad," Annie shrugged. "I actually thought it was pretty smart of her."

"Fine." Pisca let out a loud sigh, obviously sensing that her cause was lost, but it could barely be heard over the loud buzzing of the crowd and confetti that was being thrown around in the air. "Where are mom and dad?" she demanded as she gestured at the two empty seats that had little 'RESERVED' signs sitting atop them, not caring that she sounded whiny and very unlike a Career District girl.

Finnick opened his mouth. "Probably busy banging-"

"Finnick," Aunt Capet said, her voice stern. "Watch it."

He went on, "...in some obscure corner as we speak-"

"Finnick!" Capet nearly shouted.

"What?" he frowned. "Why can't I-"

"Your siblings are present," his aunt said, clearly exasperated. "Do I really have to remind you of how old they are?"

"Right," he said, letting out a cough. "Uh, they're-"

"Banging what?" Sesser frowned, clearly confused.

"The cake... dough," Finnick said, struggling to find the right words but making everything that came out of his mouth sound like an innuendo. "They're helping to make the cake that the District 7 girl is going to eat."

Pisca let out a giggle. "You're such a bad liar, Finnick."

"They're not making cake?" Sesser's frown deepened.

Aunt Capet let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. "Finnick, you are so-"

"Where is Johanna, anyway?" Pisca asked. "Her whole prep team is here, and so is her Mentor. So why isn't she here? Where is she?"

"Oh, she's probably just got some stage fright or something," Carib waved her hand dismissively. "She should be along shortly."

"Great, now we have to wait for her," Sesser rolled his eyes.

"Can you believe we actually have to eat dinner with her later?" Pisca complained.

"She can't be _that _bad," Finnick said as he shifted in his seat, turning his head to share an amused look with Annie.

Pisca rolled her eyes. "Well, of course you wouldn't think that. You probably think you guys can talk about twenty-seven different ways to hack someone's brains out with an axe, don't you?"

"Actually," Finnick began. "I was thinking more along the lines of-"

The crowd was even louder now, and a figure that was deep in discussion with her escort was being led onto the stage from the side.

"Well, there you have it," Annie said to Pisca.

"She's sort of... scrawny," Pisca said, making a face as she took in the latest Victor of the Hunger Games.

"You're just biased," Sesser rolled his eyes.

"Well, she's nowhere near as pretty as you," Carib said, giving Pisca a conspiratorial wink.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me," Pisca snapped.

"Someone's feeling moody today," Finnick laughed, clearly amused.

"Fine," Pisca sniffed, obviously offended by what she saw as a slight. "But if you happened to ask ten people how they feel about Johanna Mason, I can tell you that eight of them will agree with me."

"I never said no one agreed with you," Finnick pointed out.

"Oh, shut up," his sister rolled her eyes.

His response was interrupted by the sound of their Mayor speaking into the podium. "Welcome, everyone!"

There was a roar of shouting and applause, cheering and claps. No matter how District 4 might feel about Johanna, they weren't one to turn down an excuse for a celebration and some fun.

"Today we welcome Johanna Mason, the Victor of the sixty-sixth Hunger Games!" More applause and whooping. The Mayor went on. "Traditionally, the-"

"The Johanna Mason girl looks kind of bored, doesn't she?" Finnick leaned over and whispered to Annie.

Annie let out a quiet laugh. "Finnick, we're supposed to be paying attention to the Mayor's speech."

"Since when have you actually paid attention to a Victory Tour speech by the Mayor?" Finnick rose his eyebrows.

"The first two years you brought me to the Victory Tour celebration and last year," Annie replied matter-of-factly. "See? Three out of four years."

"But you never liked any of them, did you?" he asked.

"Who says I didn't?" she quirked her eyebrows. "Last year's was actually interesting, you know."

"Oh, because it was all about me?" Finnick smirked.

"You are so full of yourself," she whispered back.

"But the first two speeches were boring, weren't they?" he inquired.

"Fine," Annie rolled her eyes. "They were boring. I almost fell asleep, but you distracted me by being your usual annoying self. Happy now?"

"Very," Finnick said triumphantly as he gave her a smoldering wink.

Annie shook her head as they both focused their attention back on the Mayor.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Finnick recognized that voice from somewhere, he knew. His voice was hoarse from yelling, but he wasn't aware of it, didn't care, couldn't do anything but scream for Annie.

There was a splash of something in his face, so sudden that he blinked. Drops of water were dripping, rivulets running down his face and sprinkled all over his hair. "Finnick," the voice said again, this time joined by one other. "Finnick."

Finnick blinked once more, and suddenly, the figures before him seemed to loom into focus.

"Finnick."

He shook his head, the world swaying this way and that as he did, blurring and contrasting, and then he squeezed his eyes shut once more before opening them. When he did, he saw that Prim, Katniss, and Gale were peering at him, expressions varying from worry to understanding to surprise, respectively.

"Katniss? Gale?" he didn't bother to keep the surprise out of his voice. "What are you two doing here?"

Katniss cracked a smile. "Is that any way to address your fellow hospital patient?"

"I heard they discharged you," Finnick said, tossing the sheets on the bed aside and ripping the tubes off of his arm shortly afterwards.

"Former fellow patient, then," Katniss corrected herself.

"Should you be ripping those off?" Gale nodded his head at the tubes.

Finnick gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Doesn't matter," he said. "They'll come back in soon enough and put them back."

"Finnick doesn't like tubes," Prim said shortly, her voice tight. She didn't want to explain, because she knew that Finnick hated having other people feel sorry for him.

"How long was I out?" Finnick asked.

"Three days this time," Prim replied as Gale set the pail of water down on the floor.

Three days... a lot of things could have happened in three days. Annie could have been tortured for hours and hours. She could be on the verge of death. He remembered how fragile she had been after her Hunger Games, how every second had counted. How she had turned to him, blood running all over, knife in her hand, deep cuts up and down her body. What if he hadn't made it there in time? What then? She would be dead, that's what.

"Do you want to eat lunch, Finnick?" Prim inquired. "I know it's late, but you haven't eaten anything besides the food they've been feeding you through the tube."

Eat. Lunch. Food. Hunger. He knew what it was like to be hungry. Even in the Arena, when the gifts had come pouring in, he had tried to ration it all out so that it could last, unaware at first that the gifts would just keep on coming, that the Sponsors would be willing to spend any amount. But this hunger that he had for Annie - he couldn't quell it, and it was eating away at him as he lived through the torment of having to know that she was in the Capitol while he was safe in District 13.

"What?" Finnick asked, blinking.

"Do you want some lunch?" Prim repeated.

He didn't know what the hell he wanted. No, that was wrong. Yes, he did know. He wanted Annie back, that was all. He'd do anything to get her back. To hold her, to touch her, to smell her, to breathe her in, to tell her that he loved her over and over again - that was what he wanted. He wanted to see her smile and laugh and keep on laughing at something that he said, wanted to hold her hand and never, ever let go. "What?"

"I can call lunch over for you," Prim said in a patient voice. "Do you want some?"

Lunch. Hunger. Well, he supposed that stuffing some food inside his mouth would be something to pass the time by. "Yeah," he nodded. "I'd like that." Now, where the hell was his rope?


	12. Part XII: Paying The Right Kind of Atten

A/N: I'm aware that I haven't updated in forever, and truly, I apologize. Writer's block, the renewal of my love for _ASoIaF _and the squee-ing that comes with it, other stories attempting to be written, and finals have really seemed to take over. However, now that the block seems to be gone and I seem to have much more time on my hands, my imagination appears to be running once more, and this story is just churning itself out.

To all of my extremely readers and reviewers: thank you! To wren, RiverOtter1, SweetYume, Annony, Nowhere Is Darkness, Hahukum Konn, jAren, Anonymous, Sophia Abera Carter, 14cyang, and rika: thank you! To everyone new who's put this story on their alert and favorite list and/or put me on their alert and favorites: thank you!

Thank you _so _much to SweetYume for nominating this story for the Saddest Story / Best Tragedy category over at the Winter 2010 The Hunger Games Fic Awards. Wow! Thank you! It's so flattering and just: thank you! (See, I really have nothing coherent to say when I'm excited.)

And this is completely not self-promoing (read: this is self-proming!), but but but, _A Very Medieval Panem_ is finally up! Whee! Go read and enjoy, you guys!

Anyhow! Enough of my rambling. You guys probably think I'm crazy or something. On we go to the story! Feedback, as always, would be very lovely and much appreciated!

Part XII: Paying The Right Kind Of Attention

_A Little While Ago_

"Dreams are easier, Finnick," Mags said in a kind voice.

"No," Finnick shook his head. "I'm going to stay here. I don't care if-"

"If that's what you want." Mags had a strange smile on her face, as though she knew every idea that was spinning around in his mind.

"You're just going to let me stay?" Finnick rose his eyebrows suspiciously. "You're not going to try and drag me to wherever the hell it is I'm supposed to go?"

"You're supposed to be where Annie is," Mags said matter-of-factly. "Weren't you always saying that?"

"That I did," Finnick inclined his head.

Johanna was hugging Annie now, her grip firm and unrelenting, and Finnick noticed that his wife seemed a little dazed. She was patting Johanna's back lightly, and her eyes made her seem like she was so far away.

He strode towards her, not knowing at what point that stride broke into a run, and not caring. "Annie!" Finnick shouted as he ran towards her, knowing that she probably couldn't hear him but doing it nonetheless. "Annie," he breathed out as he reached her.

"Do you want to go back in?" Johanna asked softly. "Because we don't have to."

Annie let out a strange laugh. "You don't have to treat me like I'm going to break at any moment, you know."

Johanna drew back quickly, an apologetic look on her face as she let out a tired sigh. "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't want to do anything that would-"

"I know," Annie nodded. "It's okay, Johanna."

That was his Annie. Always brave, no matter what it was that life threw at her. Always going on, even if she was afraid and didn't know what she had to face. There were so many reasons why he was so in love with her and always would be, and this was one of them.

"All right," Johanna said, shooting Annie an encouraging smile. "Let's do this and not get involved with side conversations."

Annie laughed again, and it was the type of laugh that spoke more than words, that said that she knew something about Johanna that Johanna herself had yet to know. "I should have known."

"What?" Johanna asked as they walked back.

"Getting to be good friends with Gale Hawthorne, are you?" Annie waggled her eyebrows.

Johanna let out a snort, either not knowing what Annie was getting at or choosing to ignore it. "More like arguing buddies, if you ask me."

Annie smirked. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Johanna laughed. "Are you implying something, Annie?"

"Why would I do that?" Annie gave her an innocent look.

"Oh, no reason," Johanna replied.

"You know, I've noticed a trend with you," Annie said casually.

"Really?" Johanna rose her eyebrows. "And what would that be?"

"Oh, you know," Annie gave a wave of her hand. "Your arguing-"

"Yeah, hot people I'm arguing with often end up having crazy good sex with me," Johanna smiled. "Tell me about it."

Annie let out a sound that was a lot like a genuine laugh, but wasn't _quite_ one. "See? You're already predicting your relationship with Gale for me."

"Hmm," Johanna pondered. "You know, that's probably true."

Finnick laughed as he watched them. It was good to see Johanna moving on. When they'd started their little trysts in the Capitol, it was something born out of desperation. They'd both been used by the Capitol and abandoned by the people who loved them. Who was to judge them if they wanted to fuck all day? They were two gorgeous people that had decided to get it on, and that was that - well, it had been for Finnick, anyway. They'd both known what it was that they had, and it was something that was supposed to be casual, something that, for Finnick, had meant nothing but a dose of lonely comfort and understanding.

But it had meant so much more to Johanna. He'd known it in the way that he knew so many things, realized it by the way that she began to look at him and the tone of her voice when she spoke to him. A couple of weeks was an incredibly fast time to fall in love with someone (or think that you were), but that was what Johanna had done. For her, it'd started out as a way to wash away the pain of Isthrial's death and everything that had been done, but it had turned into something more for her.

And Finnick, try as hard as he might, couldn't bring himself to love Johanna the way that he so desperately wanted to. He told himself that Annie hated him anyway, so what was the point of anything? Johanna would have been so easy to move on with. There were so many similarities between them - the death of the ones that they loved, the fact that they were slaves bought and sold, that they were Victors who were growing restless and ready to fight back - and yet, he just couldn't. He did love her, but not in the way that he hoped. He felt for her like he would for a little sister or a cousin or a platonic friend, and the harder that Finnick tried to love Johanna the way that he loved Annie, the more he knew that he cared for Johanna as more of a friend than anything else.

Johanna had begged him, had pleaded, had asked why he couldn't love her back. What was so good about Annie? Annie despised him anyway, didn't she? What was the use in being such a masochist, of having your heart torn to shreds when you could just move on with someone else that knew your secret?

But he couldn't. He tried, and he couldn't. You couldn't help who you fell in love with, because love was the one emotion that you couldn't control.

"How long do you think it'll take for her and the Hawthorne boy to get it on?" Mags asked as she came up beside him.

Finnick didn't take his eyes off of Annie as he answered her. "Knowing Johanna? I'd give it two weeks tops."

He knew that Mags was raising her eyebrows. "Only two weeks?"

"Why, do you think it'll be sooner?" he asked.

"I'd wager two _days_," Mags said firmly.

Finnick let out a laugh as they moved forward. Johanna might not think that it was anything now, might not see it in the way that he and Annie and Mags could see it, but she was going to move on and be okay.

_A Very Distant Past_

The moment that they walked out of the Center, Finnick saw that a familiar-looking figure was leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for them. "Annie?" he asked, not bothering to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Hey," she smiled at him, and he noticed that Parns, her little brother, stood next to her and was playing with his hands nervously.

"Hi, Annie!" Delphi exclaimed brightly.

"You ready to go?" Annie asked her sister.

"Do you have to leave?" Pisca frowned before an excited look spread across her features. "Oh, I know! You can come to our house!"

Delphi shot Annie and Parns a questioning look. "I don't know, Pisca."

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Pisca smiled at them, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"Do you really want to go?" Annie asked.

"It's okay, I don't," Delphi lied as she shook her head. "I have a lot of homework anyway, and I-"

"Go," Annie said, surprising everyone when she did so.

"What?" Delphi rose her eyebrows.

"Go have fun," Annie smiled at her little sister. "What time do you want me to come pick you up?"

Pisca let out an excited whoop and did a little victory dance, taking Delphi's hands in hers.

"Are you sure someone didn't come and take your place?" Delphi asked Annie as she let Pisca drag her into a circle of happy dancing. "You _are _my older sister, right?"

Annie laughed at that. "Go have fun," she repeated. "You need it."

Delphi shot her a suspicious look. "Okay," she nodded slowly.

Annie gave her a smile. "What time do you-"

"We'll drop her off." Finnick, who had been watching the scene play out in front of him this entire time, stepped forward.

He didn't miss the twin looks of panick on Annie and Delphi's faces. "Oh, that really won't be necessary," Annie said quickly - much too swiftly for it to be a coincidence. "I'll just come by and pick her up. It'll be too much of a hassle to ask your family to-"

Definitely something going on that he had to find out. "It's no problem at all. I was-"

Aunt Capet stepped through the doors, a smile on her face as she calmly took in the little gathering in front of her. "Oh, hello! Delta, isn't it? And Parns and Delphi, too!"

"Delta?" Delphi mouthed questioningly at Annie.

Annie put a single finger to her lips in response.

"Aunt Capet, would it be too much of a bother for you to drop Delphi at her house later?" Finnick asked before Annie could say anything. "She wants to come over to our house, and I know you were planning on visiting today, so-"

"Not at all," his aunt smiled, and Finnick noticed the tension in Annie's shoulders.

"You don't have to," Annie gave the woman a forced smile. "Really, we'll just-"

"Nonsense," Capet gave a wave of her hand.

"I guess that's settled, isn't it?" Finnick asked breezily, ignoring the glare that Annie was shooting at him.

"Can I talk to my sister for a bit? Before we leave?" Delphi piped up. She said it as more of a statement than a question, and before the rest of them knew it, Annie and Delphi were walking a safe distance away.

"He's going to figure it out," Delphi said quickly. "What are we going to do, Annie?"

Annie shook her head. "We're going to let him believe something else that he thinks is true, okay?"

"And what's that?" Delphi furrowed her eyebrows. "Annie, he's not stupid, you know."

"I know that," her sister nodded. "Look, we'll let him think that mom is really sick and has to rely on us for everything."

"You really think that'll work?" Delphi bit her lower lip.

"That's what he thinks is going on," Annie replied. "But don't tell him anything, because he'll become suspicious if you do."

"I know," Delphi nodded. Then, "Is that what you're going to tell Parns to say?"

Annie looked back at their little brother, who was laughing at something that Pisca had told him. "Yeah," she nodded. "He knows what he has to do."

Delphi let out a breath that she hadn't even been aware of holding in. "What time will you two be back by?"

"Five o'clock," Annie replied. "That gives you at least four hours. Five o'clock and no sooner, okay?"

"Is seven o'clock okay?" Delphi smiled at her.

"As long as it's okay with the Odairs," Annie shrugged as she returned the smile. "Go have fun, Delphi."

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

"Doesn't it hurt?" Gale asked as he watched Finnick's fingers, which were raw and bleeding.

Finnick didn't respond, simply looked forward. If not for the movement of his hands with the rope, Gale would have thought that he was a statue. Probably lost in some memory about Annie, Gale thought. He wondered about what it would be like to have the person you were so deeply in love with love you back. Would it be exhilarating? Would it be frightening? Would it be so many different emotions all at once? What exactly would it feel like?

"What?" Finnick asked, breaking the strange silence in the air.

Gale was taken aback for a moment, but then he repeated his question. "Doesn't it hurt? The rope?"

So many things hurt, but which kind of pain really mattered? Finnick wondered what Annie was going through right now, couldn't stop himself from thinking about it, pondering if she and the others were fighting them back, all bloodied and torn up. It was all his fault, because everything was his fault. He might only be partially to blame, like Prim had said, but that didn't stop him from hating himself. If anything, it made him loathe his pathetic self even more, made him despair and cringe. _Stop thinking. Stop thinking and finish this knot. Okay. Wait. There's someone next to you. Were they speaking to you? _"What?" Finnick repeated.

"The rope," Gale said. "Doesn't it hurt, Finnick?"

Oh. The rope. Who's talking? Hawthrone? Right. Him. The one with the unrequited love for Katniss Everdeen. "Does it matter?" Finnick replied.

"You tell me," Gale crossed his arms as a concerned frown spread across his handsome face.

It mattered and it didn't matter. The pain from the rope was nothing compared to physical and emotional pain that he'd felt before, nothing compared to what Annie was surely going through at this moment. But making knots distracted him, in a sense. He didn't think about Annie too much, and he knew that even if he did, the sharp sting of pain would always bring him back for a moment, would make him focus on the task at hand that kept him from going slowly mad. "Yes and no," Finnick answered. "Why do you want to know, Hawthorne?"

Gale had so many questions that he felt like asking Finnick. His love for Annie, his persona in the Capitol, what was it about him that managed to make so many people desperate for his attention, what exactly the nature of his relationship with Katniss was. But he said nothing in reply, and so the two of them sat there in a strangely comforting silence, Gale watching as Finnick knotted his rope and undid the knots, over and over and over again.

_Distant Past_

"You're being impatient and very, very rash," Aunt Capet observed calmly as Pisca tapped her foot against the floor.

"Why, what's going to happen?" Pisca practically snapped.

Sesser let out an amused snort. "You look like you're going to throw something."

"Yeah?" his sister moved towards him, snatching a pin out of her front pocket. "How about I throw this at-"

Sesser was just as quick, retrieving his pocketknife from the side of his shoe. "See what Aunt Capet means by you being impatient and rash?"

"Whatever," Pisca rolled her eyes, clearly irritated. "You won't be laughing when I beat up your scrawny little-"

"Calm down, both of you," Aunt Capet hissed at them as she shook her head in disbelief. "Can you at least pretend that you're enjoying this event for just one day?"

"Sorry," they chorused together before settling back down in their seats.

"Look, how about I take you two wherever you want?" Aunt Capet offered.

"Now?" Pisca asked, her face brightening.

"No." Their aunt laughed. "After this Johanna girl leaves. How does that sound? The both of you _behave _for one day, and I'll bring you-"

"Okay," Pisca nodded shortly. "Done deal."

"You couldn't have done this offer earlier?" Finnick asked, an amused lilt in his voice.

Capet smiled. "Pisca isn't usually this bratty, you know. Besides, Finnick, sometimes you'll learn that-"

"Oh, she's almost done!" Pisca clapped her hands excitedly, gesturing her head towards the stage.

The newest Victor was speaking, looking slightly bored and irritated by everything that was going on, as though she would rather be somewhere else. "... District 4 were worthy opponents, and I'm sure that all of you will be just as-"

"Sarcastic, isn't she?" Finnick asked, an amused smile on his face as he turned to Annie for her opinion.

Johanna concluded her speech, a strange look on her face as she did, her teeth flashing as she grinned. "Thank you."

"Why does that not sound truthful at all?" Annie let out a snort of disbelief as they all clapped their hands.

The newest Victor was led offstage by a burly-looking man, and the crowd was cheering and whooping (some people were booing, of course) as they made way for her to walk past them. The Mayor was still speaking, going on at the podium about how celebrations would continue for the day and how the Victors would all gather at his house for a celebratory dinner and gathering. It was just some more Victory Tour talk that they were all so used to by now.

"Oh look, she's coming towards us!" Pisca chirped, an amused look on her face as she clapped her hands in anticipation.

"Pisca," Aunt Capet said, her tone a stern warning.

"What?" Pisca asked, her facial expression much too innocent as she made her features the picture of perfect ignorance. "I'm not going to do anything."

"You're a bad liar," Finnick laughed.

"Can't hear you," Pisca sing-songed happily.

Annie smiled, and then her eyes assessed the District 7 Victor, who was walking towards them. "She looks just as unhappy as you do, Pisca."

"That's not going to work in her favor," Pisca stated matter-of-factly.

Sesser laughed. "Be nice if you want Aunt Capet to-"

"Hello," the girl who had stopped in front of them said.

"Johanna Mason, right?" Pisca shrieked, and despite the roar of the crowd, her voice was loud enough to make a few people nearby cringe. "Oh, we're so excited to have you!"

"Thanks," Johanna gave her a smile. "And who are you?"

Aunt Capet stepped forward before her niece could go on with whatever diabolical plan it was that she had in mind. "I'm Capet," she said, a friendly smile on her face. "And here with me are Pisca, Annie, Sesser, and Finnick. We're so glad to have you here in District 4."

"Huh," Johanna nodded, clearly unconvinced. "The Victor, the aunt, the best friend, and the siblings, right?"

"Oh, are you in love with Finnick too?" Pisca exclaimed.

Johanna let out a scoff. "Why would I be-"

"Because he's off-limits, you know," Pisca went on, clearly ignoring her. "But it's okay if you want him. I don't know any girls that _don't _want him."

"Pisca," Finnick coughed, trying to smother his laughter.

His sister gave him her most innocent look. "What?"

"Welcome to District 4," Finnick said, holding out his hand to Johanna.

"Sure," the District 7 girl nodded as she shook his outstretched hand.

Several things happened at that moment: Pisca pouted. Sesser smirked. Annie smiled. Aunt Capet laughed. Johanna rose her eyebrows, perplexed by this strange reception. And Finnick? Finnick felt relaxed.

_Those Weeks of You & Me_

Annie laughed. "Well, of course it was."

Johanna smiled at her. "Do you think they-"

The lights seemed to flicker, cutting off her sentence as they both exchanged a knowing glance. "Don't let go," Annie said firmly, squeezing her companion's hand in the sudden darkness.

That was the last thing that Johanna heard her say, and then the loud screaming seemed to begin. They were horrible, wailing noises that seemed to come from nowhere, and Johanna could hear nothing else. Not the splashing of the water, not the rattling of the chains that held her, not Annie speaking. No, there was nothing but the screaming, and Johanna was doing her best to see, but they were in pitch black darkness, and all that she had to hold on to was Annie squeezing her with one hand and holding Johanna's chains up above the water with the other.

Silence.

"It's beginning," Annie whispered.

"What?" Johanna asked. "What is it?"

Dark red lights were turned on high above them, moving from here to there at a dizzying pace. Johanna wondered if this was some sort of Capitol attempt at making them think of blood. If it was, it worked, because Johanna could think of nothing else.

"Annie-" Johanna began, but the screaming began once more, and she could see that the other Victor had closed her eyes, as though doing so would help her block out the screaming that seemed to come from everywhere around them.

The red lights disappeared, and so did the screaming. Johanna could hear Annie let out a breath in the black silence - not of relief, but of dreaded anticipation.

"Run!" Johanna heard a familiar voice scream through some hidden speakers up high. "Annie, run!"

Johanna could feel Annie still beside her, could practically sense Annie's face go white despite the fact that she could see nothing but darkness.

"No!" Johanna could hear a past Annie scream from the recording that was playing. Next to her, Johanna could feel the current Annie tremble. "Stop it!" the recording shrieked. "Don't touch him!"

"Annie!" The desperation again, that voice that used to be so full of life. "Annie, run! Run!"

"Eliot," Johanna said to herself. She knew what was going to happen, and even as she moved to help Annie, to cover the other Victor's ears and block out the sound, she knew that no matter how far Annie dug her fingers inside her ears, she would be able to hear it.

"I'm sorry," Annie whispered, and in the sudden silence, Johanna could hear her companion speak. Then, before Johanna could stop her, Annie disappeared under the water.

A few moments later, however, Annie resurfaced, and she was shaking. Johanna reached her hands out as she tried to keep herself afloat, knowing that she was the only anchor Annie had right now. "Annie," she said. "Annie, breathe in."

"I can't," Annie gasped out. "Johanna, they know what they're doing."

"What, the Capitol?" Johanna asked, trying to make her voice light, although her heart was heavy with despair. She had a hunch as to what exactly was going on. "Why can't you go underwater, Annie?" she asked.

"Because they're there," Annie said. "They're there, Johanna, and it's just as bad as listening to Eliot tell me to run."

"Who?" Johanna inquired. "Who's there, Annie?"

"Those children," Annie replied. "Only they don't have bodies, Johanna. It's just their heads, and the Capitol, they know - they know that-"

"I'm here," Johanna said, knowing that it wouldn't be enough, but not knowing what else she could do. They were stuck here, and until the Capitol had had enough fun with the both of them, there was no way that they were going to get out. It was cruel: to turn water, the one safe haven that Annie had, into a living nightmare that she would have to vividly relive. To have the decapitated heads of those dead children bump into Annie the moment that she tried to disappear under the water - it made Johanna wonder what they were going to do to her when it was her turn. And Annie? Annie had no options now. What could she do but be above the water or underneath it? If she went underneath, the decapitated heads would be all around her, making her relive Eliot's death. And if she broke above the surface, then the Capitol would just keep on playing those last words of Eliot's as he screamed at Annie to flee and as she begged for his life.

"Annie!" Eliot screamed, his voice piercing through the silence that had been so very brief. "Annie!"

_The Arena, Part Deux_

Annie shifted in the sleeping bag, reaching her hand over to check on Eliot. Nothing.

She let out a sigh as she realized that he was off to the bathroom again, yet another time without telling her. She was supposed to get her sleep, he said. But it wasn't safe to go by himself. They had run after separating themselves from the Careers, and that just gave the Career pack more incentive to find them. You didn't run from the Careers this early on in the Games and get away from it. You were a Career through and through, stayed till the end when you had to kill each other off. Running before you were supposed to wasn't part of the rules. If you ran earlier than allowed, you were punished by being chased by those who had formerly been your allies. Careers delighted in hunting down their prey, and there was a special kind of pleasure that they took in chasing after those who had broken off from them.

But Annie wouldn't have made a different choice even if she'd been given the chance. Eliot had been too young to kill, and they hadn't even given him a chance when the Games had begun. The fact that he was a mere twelve-year-old hadn't exactly helped in his favor. Well, not until Annie had decided to save him and run from the Careers. Still, it wasn't like-

The scream cut through her thoughts, and she was barely aware of throwing the spears out of their sleeping bag and climbing down the tree, barely aware of reaching into the inside of her shoe for one of her knives. Because she knew that scream. It was Eliot's, and someone had found him. Why hadn't he listened to her? He was supposed to be careful. He was supposed to wake her up if he wanted to go to the bathroom. But Annie wasn't going to waste any time being angry at him when all that coursed through her veins right now was fear.

"Eliot!" she shouted as she ran towards the source of the screams, not caring if anyone could hear her from this distance. All that she knew was that she had to reach him, had to protect him, just like they had promised each other. "Eliot!"

"What? No! Don't come here!" she could hear his voice yelling in surprise, and Annie knew that Eliot recognized her voice, but wasn't about to reveal who exactly she was. "No! Run! Run!"

"Shut up!" Annie heard Cyclada, the District 2 Tribute shout.

The jab of a knife. Blood gushing. Eliot screaming once more.

"Shut up!" Cyclada shrieked.

Another jab. More blood gushing. Eliot silent now, trying to contain his scream of pain, or perhaps unable to scream at all. That was what she had to think. If not, it meant that he was dead.

Annie hid behind the entrance to the clearing, shielded by the copse of trees. Despite the fire that burned, she adjusted her night goggles, trying to see if there were any hidden Careers nearby. She spotted one high up in a tree diagonal from her. Menelaus, the District 1 Tribute. He saw her, and simultaneously raised his weapon and opened his mouth to warn the other Careers, but Annie was quicker. The spear she had in her hand went flying through the air, and it hit him square through the throat, piercing through the flesh. Menelaus clutched at his throat, and there was just a horrible gagging and choking noise as he grabbed at his neck.

The rest of the pack had noticed, and they looked up. "Menelaus!" Leto shouted.

He was trying to climb down from his place on the tree, trying to make his way down to them. Eliot was momentarily forgotten, and the rest of the Careers focused the majority of their attention on him. But they weren't stupid enough to drop all of their guard. Melos and Leto had their weapons ready, and their bodies were alert and poised for attack.

Annie aimed the three remaining spears that she had one by one, and then she ran as softly and as quickly as she could.

"Shit!" Melos swore under his breath as he moved out of the way of an incoming spear and rolled on the dirt to avoid another. "Cyclada, get down!"

Leto ran to Menelaus, as though she could protect him by doing so, as if she could somehow save her district partner. "Ahghck," Menelaus spluttered out, coughing as he stumbled down the tree. "Hajckl!" He waved his arms around.

"Who is it?" Leto asked at the same time that a spear narrowly missed her. "Menelaus, who is it?"

"It's that stupid Annie Cresta bitch," Cyclada spat out. "Who else would it be, you fucking idiot?"

Menelaus glared at her. "Lahckmn." They might not be able to understand his words, but his message was clear enough. He had been protective of Leto the entire in the time Arena because she was his best friend's little sister, and he was still going to go out being protective of her, even if he was dying and sort of helpless right now.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Melos half-sung, half-shouted. "Come out, little Annie Cresta!"

Annie entered the clearing, her knives ready. Her eyes went over the burning fire, which they hadn't even bothered to hide. Such was the way of Careers. No one else would be foolish or gutsy enough to let a fire burn so brightly and openly. It was like an open signal for the rest of the Tributes to come and get them. But that was the thing - the Careers were the best prepared, the most ready, and they had every right to have this sort of confidence. Even if a non-Career Tribute was stupid enough to answer to the beckoning fire, the Careers always took them down. Always.

Menelaus lay on the floor, gasping and spluttering as Leto murmured at him to be quiet. A murderous glance entered Leto's face as she saw Annie, and then her gaze was reverted back to Menelaus.

Cyclada had Eliot by the neck, and he was struggling against her, devoid of any weapons, gashes all over his body, blood spluttering from everywhere and anywhere. His eyes widened when he saw her, and he was mouthing at her to run. Melos and Cyclada smiled when they saw her - terrible, horrible grins - but Annie didn't let herself be unnerved by them.

"I'm here," she announced as she stepped forward.


End file.
